Thursday, January 28, 2021 / 9:21PM / Ecobank / Header Image Credit: Ecobank Nigeria

TheManaging Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan has said the bank'snewly sourced N50 billion credit will be deployed to support Micro, Small andmedium scale enterprises (MSMEs) and small corporates in the country. Hepointed out that the bank recognizes MSMEs as the drivers of post COVID-19economic recovery for Nigeria, stressing that additional funding support fromthe bank would further generate and bolster activities in the sector therebydriving the much-needed growth in the country, provide jobs and support wealthcreation.

Accordingto Mr. Akinwuntan, "The proceeds of the financing will support MSMEs in thecountry and is particularly useful for this segment where access to bank loansis considered as the biggest impediment to growth. As MSMEs currently accountfor about half of the country's gross domestic product and circa 96 per cent ofthe total number of businesses, this support will definitely make a positiveimpact."

Henoted that "As an MSME friendly bank, we have been helping them with capacity building,providing simple and easy access to loans in various sectors includingmanufacturing, agriculture, creative industry, healthcare, general commerce andservices. Our robust digital platforms help facilitate transaction conveniencefor our clients particularly during this Covid pandemic and helped with theease of doing business. Our award winning Omnilite digital banking platformhelps businesses with a wide array of payment services electronically, whileour POS machines and Ecobankpay solutions are widely deployed to assist withcollections."

Addingfurther, the Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Mrs Carol Oyedeji affirmedthat Ecobank Nigeria has been in the forefront in supporting small businesses.She stated that "The bank has entered strategic partnerships with variousdevelopment institutions to support both funding and risk sharing for MSMElending across various sectors of the economy. Small business owners cantherefore avail themselves of this opportunity presented to grow and furtherexpand."

Ecobankwas recently named among the top 3 banks for SMEs in the Customer ExperienceSatisfaction survey conducted by a leading audit and professional servicescompany, KPMG Nigeria. Prior to this the bank was given the BusinessDay awardfor Best Agric Bank in Nigeria.

TheN50bn raised was a bilateral funding and provides stable medium-term liquidityto the balance sheet of Ecobank Nigeria. It has positively improved its balancesheet ratios, especially the capital adequacy ratio and is for a tenor of 10 years.

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