James Emejo
Jaiz Bank Plc has received a $25 million shariah-compliant Line of Financing (LOF) from Islamic Corporation for the Development (IsDB) to support small and medium scale enterprises in the country.
Chief Executive of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of IsDB Group, Ayman Sejiny, and the Managing Director/Chief Executive of Jaiz Bank, Hassan Usman, both signed the loan agreement to support the SMEs.
The intervention will also cover those adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a statement by the group.
The contract details indicated that out of the total sum of $25 million funds provided, $10 million is allocated under the ICD’s $ 250 million COVID-19 support package to help the private sector affected by the pandemic by leveraging on the expertise of the banking system of its member countries.
ICD’s line of financing facility will help to expand Jaiz Bank’s customer base by the provision of Shariah-compliant financing in response to a growing demand for Islamic finance to support, among others, COVID-19 affected projects and industries, the statement added.
Sejiny, said, “Continuous cooperation between ICD and Jaiz Bank, the pioneer in Islamic banking in Nigeria, will result in easier access by SMEs to Shariah-compliant financing that will meet their funding needs, as well as assist in keeping businesses open and preserving jobs, which is in line with ICD’s commitments to help the Nigerian economy to overcome the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen financial inclusion.”
He said,“We have no doubt that this line of financing facility will provide much needed support to private sector businesses including those which have been affected by the pandemic.”
On his part, Usman said, “We are delighted with this partnership with ICD which has started in 2018 with a $20 million Line of Finance to support SME’s in Nigeria, the line was fully utilized by eligible SME’s with a substantial portion going to the Agricultural sector.
“The facility was fully repaid earlier this year and has helped in generating over 791 direct jobs and put the Bank among the major Banks in repatriating non-oil export proceeds for the country.”
According to him, “The additional $ 25 million line of financing facility will further enhance the bank’s capacity to continue to provide support to the local private sector enterprises with substantial socio-economic impact”.
Usman said Jaiz bank appreciated ICD for extending the facility in such a challenging time due to the COVID-19 pandemic when economies needed banks to further support their customers, especially SMEs in order to foster economic growth and direct job creation.”
