Ecobank Nigeria is set to deploy its newly-sourced N50 billion credit to support Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) and other small corporates in the country.
The deployment is in recognition of the role of MSMEs as the drivers of post COVID-19 economic recovery for Nigeria.
The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Akinwuntan said in Lagos that the additional funding support from the bank would further generate and bolster activities in the sector, thereby driving the much-needed growth in the country, provide jobs and support wealth creation.
Mr. Akinwuntan explained: “The proceeds of the financing will support MSMEs in the country and is particularly useful for this segment where access to bank loans is considered as the biggest impediment to growth. As MSMEs currently account for about half of the country’s gross domestic product and circa 96 per cent of the total number of businesses, this support will definitely make a positive impact.”
He said that as an MSME friendly bank, Ecobank has been helping the sector with capacity building; providing simple and easy access to loans in various sectors including manufacturing, agriculture, creative industry, healthcare, general commerce and services, stressing that the bank’s robust digital platforms help facilitate transaction convenience for clients, particularly during this COVID-19 pandemic and helped with the ease of doing business.
Akinwuntan stated that the Ecobank award-winning Omnilite digital banking platform helps businesses with a wide array of payment services electronically, while POS machines and Ecobankpay solutions are widely deployed to assist with collections.
In the same vein, the Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Mrs. Carol Oyedeji affirmed that Ecobank Nigeria has been in the forefront in supporting small businesses. She stated that, “The bank has entered strategic partnerships with various development institutions to support both funding and risk sharing for MSME lending across various sectors of the economy. Small business owners can therefore avail themselves of this opportunity presented to grow and further expand. ”
Ecobank was recently named among the top 3 banks for SMEs in the Customer Experience Satisfaction survey conducted by a leading audit and professional services company, KPMG Nigeria. Prior to this, the bank received the BusinessDay award for ‘Best Agric Bank in Nigeria’.
The N50bn raised was a bilateral funding and provides stable medium-term liquidity to the balance sheet of Ecobank Nigeria. It has positively improved its balance sheet ratios – especially the capital adequacy ratio – and is for a tenor of 10 years.
