78 SME operators get BOI loan to boost businesses

The Bank of Industry has presented loan certificates of N50,000 each to 78 Small and Medium Entrepreneurs to boost their businesses.
The loan was facilitated by Women Arise Development and Humanitarian Initiative, a non-governmental organization.
Presenting the certificates on Friday in Abuja, Temitope Owolabi of Micro Enterprise Division, BOI, urged the women to utilise the loan effectively to grow and sustain their businesses.
According to Owolabi, there is the need to monitor daily activities and keep proper records of your transactions.
She urged them to maintain clean financial integrity to avoid negative credit rating that would affect their chances of securing bigger loans, adding: “Without default, you can get more loans.”
Owolabi, who decried the difficulty some entrepreneurs encountered in securing credit facilities, however, blamed it on failure to provide accurate information needed to process the loans.
While emphasising that BOI did not give credit to start-ups, she urged entrepreneurs who intended securing loans to endeavour set up businesses in order to facilitate credits.
She said: “You must have an existing business and provide accurate details. Some people have failed to access loans because they provided wrong Biometric Verification Number and account numbers.
“There are situations where some husbands get the loans and find it difficult to inform their wives. Some earn more and still apply for this small loan.
“There is no point trying to play smart because the bank does screening and will fish out such people.”
A poultry farmer, Magi Ladan, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries, commended the bank and WADHI for the opportunity.
Ladan said the opportunity had provided them the platform to grow their businesses.
She assured that the beneficiaries would put the loan in good use as their own contribution to growing the country’s economy.
The loan has a repayment plan of six months.