Relief as BoI Moves to De-risk, Improve Lending to SMEs in 2022

James Emejo in Abuja

The Managing Director/Chief Executive, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Olukayode Pitan, has said it would advance more money to customers this year.

He also said though the bank had not done much in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) space in terms of lending support, it is however working to de-risk the sector in order to give opportunities to small businesses amidst the current challenging economic situation.

He said, “So expect to see more disbursements to SMEs this year from the BoI”.

Pitan, in an interview with THISDAY said, the development finance institution is also working with the federal government to see how it could improve the lives of Nigerians by allowing them access to affordable financing.

He said global developments including the rising inflation arising from supply chain disruption occasioned by the Russia-Ukraine war, had made it inevitable for the BoI to respond to the plight of Nigerian businesses by advancing more money to customers this year.

According to him, “The events happening in Russia and Ukraine affect everyone. Nigerian import is more of fertilizer form Ukraine and that affects the price, a lot of iron and steel from construction companies in Ukraine which will be affected. The wheat which we use in our bakeries including flours in making bread is already affected and it’s likely the prices will go further up if Ukraine is not able to export its harvest this year.

“So, Nigeria has to be prepared because we have a large population and it is affecting the cost of food and that is higher inflation. 

All of these are part of our plans for the year and we are going to work with the government, the central bank, the ministry of finance to see how we can make life better for our people.”

The BoI boss said,” Our customer base cuts across; we do support a lot of the micro and medium enterprises but most of our loans are in the large enterprises because the loan size is bigger. 

“But we are doing a lot in the SMEs space and we have spoken to government and trying to de-risk lending to that area; and giving us some of the money to use to de-risk the sector.”