News
Credit Institute Seeks Credit Economy to Boost Entrepreneurship
National Institute of Credit Administration of Nigeria has said that better access to credit will lead to increased entrepreneurship and boost economic development.
Speaking with journalists recently, Prof. Chris Onalo, the Chief Executive Officer, NICA, said Nigeria has huge potential which can be unlocked when cash transactions are replaced with an economy that thrives on credit.
“A credit based economy will give people equal opportunity to advance their entrepreneurship and personal skills development. Business oppourtunities are everywhere and the only way you can harness the resources that we have in this country is when you throw the economy open and encourage people who don’t have access to finance to get the funds.
Encourage people to buy and invest, not necessarily waiting for when they collect their salary, especially for those who are on fixed income.
“The small and medium scale enterprises that are the resilient factors that hold the economic plank of sustainability should have access to credit, and get very strong support from the government which can stand in place as collateral security,” Onalo said.
He said NICA is open to addressing human needs and is helping to implement government economic policy agenda for the country, noting that cash economy has affected political values and encouraged unimaginable corruption.
Onalo said, “We need to completely run the affairs of the country on the basis of integrity. The beauty of credit economic is it institute’s values, institutes integrity and the honest truth and reliability.”
The professor noted that NICA is a regulatory professional body on matters relating to credit management profession in the country, as well as supporting the economy to transit from cash based system to credit cultured economic.
The government, he said, has confidence in NICA and with government’s solid determination to change the economic structure of the country, NICA, is partnering with it to advance economic development and particularly, moving the economic landscape from what it had been since independence to a new horizon.
EFCC
The African Development Bank Group last week approved an investment of €6.5 million in the Saviu II fund in order to support technology start-ups through their seed phase and first institutional fundraising, mainly in French-speaking Central and West Africa.
The Bank will invest €4.5 million as equity and €2 million as a first-loss hedging tranche on behalf of the European Commission, under the Boost Africa Programme.
This participation of the Bank Group will enable the Saviu II fund to give priority to companies with a strong technological or digital component.
Saviu II, the second investment vehicle of Saviu Partners, plans to invest between €500,000 and €3 million in about 20 technology or technology-oriented business-to-business start-ups in the seed phase or carrying out first institutional fundraising.
The Saviu II venture capital fund aims to make at least 60% of its commitments in the French-speaking countries of West and Central Africa: Côte d ‘Ivoire, Cameroon, Benin, Senegal, Togo, Burkina Faso and Mali.
The fund can also co-invest in promising technology companies in East Africa that have a strong team and business model, and whose strategy includes entering the market in French-speaking West African countries and establishing a strong presence there.
In addition, the fund will devote a dedicated envelope to pre-seed investments, focusing on minority equity investments, usually in co-investment with studios, incubators or other ecosystem partners.
Nigerian Government has signed a $1.3 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) via the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) to fund an alumina refinery, national geoscience mapping, and a strategic investment vehicle for mining growth.
Special Assistant to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, said the refinery will process one million tonnes of bauxite yearly using a modern Bayer process, powered by an on-site gas-fired cogeneration plant.
Minister Dele Alake called it a transformative milestone boosting GDP, aligning with reforms that improve investment climate, regulations, and licensing to attract private capital. He directed agencies to fast-track permits.
The 20-year project at 95% utilization eyes 19 million tonnes total output, $1.2 billion annual GDP addition, $25 billion economic impact, and $8 billion forex earnings, per feasibility studies.
SMDF Executive Secretary Fatima Shinkafi termed it the agency’s biggest funding deal, supporting value-addition policy.
The partnership extends to geoscience mapping for mineral data, de-risking exploration, and a joint vehicle for mining assets.
Permanent Secretary Engr. Farouk Yabo praised the reforms. Shinkafi signed for government; AFC’s Franklin Edochie for the corporation, witnessed by AFC CEO Samaila Zubairu.
Tomori positioned it as Nigeria’s largest private mining investment and FDI magnet.
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