Bank of Industry expresses concern over inaccessible loan

Nigeria’s Bank of Industry, BOI, on Tuesday blamed the inability of entrepreneurs to access its loan facilities on the difficulty in obtaining Governor’s consent to mortgage property to be used as collateral.

Managing Director of the bank, Mrs Evelyn Oputa raised the alarm during the launching of the Enugu State- Bank of Industry 1 Billion MSME Fund held at Golden Tulip Hotel, Enugu.

The Managing Director, represented by a senior official of the bank, Barade Hassan, disclosed that the BOI had on its own granted total loan facilities of 2.329 Billion in Enugu State to Micro, Small, Medium and large enterprises outside BOI-ENSG MSME Fund.

She said the ugly development had proven to be a major bottleneck in implementation of the projects as it results in the inability of the bank to disburse loans to beneficiaries.

According to Oputa, “the Bank of Industry’s experience in extending credit facilities to loan applicants in different parts of the country has shown that beneficiaries face similar challenges that inhibit the implementation and operation of their projects as well as increase their costs of doing business.

“Some of these challenges include: Difficulty in obtaining Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) and Governor’s Consent to Mortgage property to be used as collateral for loan facilities.

“This has proven to be major bottleneck in the implementation of projects as it results in the inability of the bank to disburse loans to beneficiaries.

“I, therefore, urge the government of Enugu state to offer fee waivers to entrepreneurs in the state that intend to acess financial assistance from the Bank of Industry, as this also accelerate the disbursement of loan facilities”.

In his speech, the Commissioner For Commerce and Industry in Enugu State, Jude Akubuilo described the event as the fruit of the well thought out policy of Governor Sullivan Chime to reposition the state from a Civil Service town in 2007 to the economic hub of the South-East.

Akubuilo stated that the state enacted the Enugu State Government Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Fund Law in 2010, adding that it was worthy to note that the law aggregates 0.5% of the annual state and local government budgets towards funding of MSMEs in the state.