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The Bank of Industry (BoI), has said that it disbursed about N33.9 billion to Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in 2018.
Chairman of the BoI, Aliyu Dikko, made the disclosure during the bank’s 59th Annual General Meeting (AGM), held in Lagos, recently.
Dikko said that out of the N259.6 billion fund available with the BoI, about N33.9 billion was disbursed specifically to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. He, however, added that the balance of N225.7 billion was deployed to support large enterprises.
Speaking on the financial performance of the bank, Dikko said that during the period, the group’s total asset grew by 49 per cent from N713.3bn in 2017 to 1.07 trillion in 2018.
Dikko further explained that the bank achieved improvement in its total equity as it increased by 12.5 percent from N241 billion in 2017 to N258.3 billion in 2018. He put the bank’s profit before tax at N36.7 billion, indicating a 39 percent increase from the N26.4 billion recorded in the previous year.
Dikko said the management of the bank made a proposal of N2 billion dividend to be paid to the shareholders. The amount was unanimously approved by shareholders of the bank.
“The bank’s developmental impact profile and financial performance are fundamental indicators of our success. As we celebrate 60 years of our existence in 2019 and move ahead into the future, we will continue to streamline our efforts to ensure that these outcomes continuously align with our core values and the expectations of our stakeholders,” said Dikko.
In his reaction, the Managing Director of the bank, Olukayode Pitan, said the financial institution would continue its intervention programmes in the various sectors of the economy.
Pitan said that in partnership with the Federal Government with respect to its Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, a component of the Social Investment Programme, the bank facilitated the disbursement of N29 billion to 1.55 million beneficiaries, nationwide, through its flagship products such as TraderMoni and MarketMoni. The products, he noted, were specifically aimed at providing soft loans at no interest rate to small entrepreneurs.
