N120bn to be disbursed to 2m MSMEs by year end, says BOI

By Abubakar Yunusa

The Bank of Industry (BoI) said it plans to disburse N120 billion to 2 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by December this year.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday to mark the institution’s 65th anniversary, Shekarau Omar, BoI’s executive director of MSMEs, highlighted the bank’s support for small businesses.
Omar said BoI had planned to disburse N103 billion to 1.5 million MSMEs in 2024.
However, the executive director said as of last month, the bank had already surpassed that target — disbursing N107 billion to more MSMEs than originally planned.
He said the size of Nigeria’s MSME sector is estimated at 39 million to 40 million businesses, “a number that exceeds the populations of 39 African countries”.
This, according to Omar, underscores the vital role MSMEs play in the country’s economic growth.
“In Nigeria alone, you have 39 million MSMEs, which says that it is a great country with a lot of potentials,” the executive director said.
“My budget last year was to disburse 54 billion to 1 million MSMEs. At the end of the year, we disbursed 64 billion to 1,000,250 MSMEs.
“This year, my budget is to disburse 103 billion to 1,500,000 MSMEs. We have already disbursed 107 billion as of last month to more than that number.
“We are still counting the numbers and that tells you that between now and December, we are looking at between 115 to 120 billion to be disbursed to MSMEs, and the figure we are looking at is about 2 million MSMEs. This is just within the budget given to the MSME directorate.
“However, the bank has also brought in a lot of activities, like the RAPID, which is the rural area programme to support the MSMEs.”
Omar also said the bank has allocated N3.7 billion which it plans to disburse to businesses in rural areas “between now and the first quarter (Q1) of next year”.
“We have decided to look inwards, to look at those areas that are never able to come to the cities to get the funding and Dr. Issa mentioned that we are in 33 states,” he added.
“Between now and the end of the first quarter of 2024 (sic), we will be in every state capital, minimum, of this country.”
Omar said the bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) valued at N12 billion with state governments over the past three months to help MSMEs in different regions.
This, the director, demonstrates the importance of being close to MSMEs in order to effectively serve them, stressing that “this bank belongs to the MSMEs”.