The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan has said the bank’s newly sourced N50 billion credit can be deployed to support micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) within the nation.
He pointed out that the bank recognises MSMEs because the drivers of put up COVID-19 economic recovery for Nigeria, stressing that extra funding help from the bank would further generate and bolster activities within the sector thereby driving the much–needed development within the nation, provide jobs and support wealth creation.
A statement from the bank quoted Akinwuntan to have stated: “The proceeds of the financing will assist MSMEs within the nation and is especially useful for this segment where access to bank loans is considered as the largest impediment to growth.
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“As MSMEs currently account for about half of the nation’s gross domestic product and circa ninety-six per cent of the total number of businesses, this support will definitely make a positive impact.”
He noted that, “As an MSME-friendly bank, we have been helping them with capacity building; offering easy and quick access to loans in various sectors including manufacturing, agriculture, creative industry, healthcare, general commerce and services. “Our robust digital platforms assist facilitate transaction comfort for our clients particularly during this Covid-19 pandemic and helped with the ease of doing business.
“Our award-successful Omnilite digital banking platform helps companies with a wide array of payment services electronically, while our POS machines and Ecobankpay solutions are widely deployed to help with collections.”
On her part, Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Ecobank, Mrs. Carol Oyedeji affirmed that Ecobank Nigeria has been within the forefront in supporting small businesses.
She said that “The bank has entered strategic partnerships with various growth institutions to help both funding and risk-sharing for MSME lending throughout numerous sectors of the economic system.
“Small business owners can therefore avail themselves of this opportunity introduced to develop and further expand.”
