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Tag: Bol

  • ‘ITF ‘ll partner Bol, SMEDAN on ‘dominant trade’ in 18 states’

    ‘ITF ‘ll partner Bol, SMEDAN on ‘dominant trade’ in 18 states’

    THE Industrial Training Fund (ITF) will soon move into 18 states to train youths on “dominant trade” in their locality.

    Its Director-General /Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Joseph N. Ari, spoke yesterday when he visited The Nation’s Head Office in Lagos.

    Some of the 18 states involved in the agency’s National Industrial Skills Development programme (NISDP) are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Benue, Edo, Ekiti and Enugu.

    Others are Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, Taraba and Yobe.

    On how the programme operates, he said the dominant trade and skill upgrade was usually chosen by governors on areas where states have competitive advantage or skill gaps.

    He said the training programme would take-off next month in partnership with Small and Medium Enterprises, Development  Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), an agency saddled with the responsibility of establishing cooperatives  for graduates .

    The second partner is Bank of Industry (Bol), which is expected to provide the seed capital for graduate trainees.

    The ITF boss regretted the large number of unemployed youths and the nation’s growing population.

    Ari stressed that if nothing is done urgently to tackle the problem, it will create a huge challenge for the country.

    He said the idea behind the programme was that each state government should provide the starter parks for the trainees to start-off smoothly in their chosen areas of specialisation.

     Ari said his agency was working in accordance with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s vision on job creation and entrepreneurship.

    “ITF is also partnering with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) on Graduate Up-skill  Programme  to impact skillful knowledge on fresh graduates to make them employable. Others are entrepreneurs, who will in future be employers of labour,” he said.

    On the vocational trade areas in which they will be engaged, he said: “ITF will conduct training in aluminum fabrication, tye and dye, hair dressing and cosmetology, tilling and domestic electrical installation. Others are ICT, welding, fabrication, tailoring and garment, culinary skills, shoes and bag-making. We will also train them in event management, fisheries, crop production, poultry production and Plaster of Paris (POP),” he added.

    Also, as part of efforts to reduce unemployment and foster national growth, the ITF has entered into a partnership with the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) to develop skilled professionals.

    Ari said this when he visited NECA’s Director General Olusegun Osinowo in Lagos.

    He noted that with the country’s rapid population growth, it should be able to export skilled professionals and by so doing, attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI).

    According to him, NECA was chosen as the first port of call in his administration’s advocacy plan for the Organised Private Sector (OPS) because he believes with NECA, ITF would achieve its set goals for the good of the country.

    He said: “We are on the path of proper alignment with President Muhammadu Buhari’s policy of social, economic and industrial growth. We are aware of the importance of skills in national and economic growth. That is why we are focused on ensuring to equip our people with various skills.”

    Osinowo congratulated Ari on his appointment as ITF boss, assuring that he would bring about the desired change.

    He urged him to put his expertise to bear and come up with solutions that would take the country out of recession.

  • Bol, firm partner on entrepreneurial training, funding

    Bol, firm partner on entrepreneurial training, funding

    •Equip youths, others for export market on precious stone

    The Bank of Industry (Bol) is collaborating with Laurel School of Mines (LSM) to produce gem stones for export.

    At the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BoI and LSM in Lagos on Monday, BoI’s Acting Managing Director Mr. Waheed Olagunju said that the partnership would facilitate entrepreneurship and employment in the solid minerals sector.

    He said the collaboration was the boldest initiative the Development Finance Institution (DFI) has taken so far in the solid minerals space in the country.

    Olagunju said: “We have lots of agricultural resources, solid minerals and oil, but solid minerals are the lowest hanging fruits. With gem stones, you do not have to wait like agriculture where you plant to harvest and process. We have gem stones where we can pick them up, add value and within few weeks make thousands of dollars.”

    According to him, the partnership is also coming on the heels of Nigeria’s quest to diversify its revenue base, saying that the gem stones industry is capable of earning the much needed foreign exchange for the Nigerian economy.

    ‘’The turnaround time is faster in precious stones, unlike what we have in agriculture or the petroleum sector. We are going to generate a lot of entrepreneurs in this sector. We will be training 1,600 in each location and 200 per location across the country spanning the six geo-political zones, including Lagos and Abuja.

    The BoI boss said that those who are trained and show signs of becoming potential entrepreneurs will be supported by the bank. “We will give them concessional facilities to enable them trade and export gem stones to earn foreign exchange, which would go a long way to help Nigeria diversify the economy while also earning foreign exchange for the country,” he added.

    Olagunju said there would be four batches of 50 each in the locations to ensure that the training is effective. He also stated that the training is expected to last for three days, adding that the course curricular of the training programme will include picking the gem stones, adding value and trading for export.

    On the versatility of the firm in partnership, the Bol boss said LSM is a global player and is currently operating in some parts of Africa successfully as well as in countries in Asia such as Sirilanka, Thailand, Mali and Senegal among others.

    “We are dealing with a reputable institution that is Nigerian and the MoU we are signing is also in sync with BoI’s operation strategy. We operate and collaborate with domestic and foreign development partners. LSM happens to be a domestic development partner in the private sector and the first in the solid minerals space,” he stated.

    Also, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Tope Adebanjo, said if Nigeria channels the required efforts towards gem stone development, the industry is capable of turning the fortunes of the economy around. He maintained that the industry has transformed many economies of the world.

    ‘’It is sad that foreigners are dominating the gem stone business and there are millions of unemployed youths in the country. The industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. We can make Lagos and Abuja another Las Vegas in Nigeria,” he said.

    According to him, Nigeria is tapping next to nothing in the global share index of the industry. He maintained that almost half of the total population of Thailand, which is about 60 million, engage directly and indirectly in gem stone production.

    He, however, listed factors affecting investment in gem stone development in Nigeria to include lack of capital, market, technology, mineral resource and entrepreneurs. He stressed the need to develop entrepreneurs in Nigeria to take advantage of the enterprising sector.

    “The training we are embarking on is about $277 per person for three days, which is less than $100 a day. Selection will be done diligently together with the BOI. Basically, the whole idea is to engage the youth to take over what belongs to them. Nigerians are intellectually sound, ready and willing to work, but the problem is who will lead them to work,” he said.

  • Bol seeks community-based industrialisation

    Nigeria’s industrialisation should be driven from the  perspective of natural endowment with community-based strategies, the Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Waheed Olagunju has said.

    Olagunju spoke at the 20th Annual Public lecture organised by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria in Lagos at the weekend.

    It had as theme SMEs as a Catalyst for Sustained Economic Growth in Nigeria.

    He lamented that the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have not fared well  as a result of poor infrastructure, weak local patronage and support services.

    He said though Nigeria’s return on investment (Rol) is the fourth highest globally and attracted the highest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the continent,these are yet to translate to wealth for the people.

    The Bol boss regretted that as blessed as the nation is with abundant human and material resources we have not been able to take advantage of and develop our economy. He observed that Nigeria is the seventh largest oil producer and eighth in terms of the gas reserve with over 84 million hectares of arable land and identifiable 44 solid mineral in commercial quantities yet SMEs or large enterprise is not faring well.

    He said the economy has been underperforming because of weak SMEs that are adding almost nothing to the growth of the GDP as a result of their position and lack of capacity.

    According to him, in the first half of this year, the country was among the fastest growing economies with a GDP of between five and seven per cent.

    “Between the 1970’s and 2014, the nation’s crude oil export was 90 per cent and non-oil exports 10 per cent while Mexico had 20 per cent crude oil export and 80 per cent manufactured goods. Other countries that were less endowed are Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Mauritius, Madagascar and Lesotho.”

    He said the country has also not taken advantage  of the $1billion export of textile materials to the United States under African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) with Kenya exporting in excess of $385 million from Mombasa which he said is twice the distance from Nigeria to United States.

    He refuted the idea that funding is the major challenge of the SMEs but stated that some operators do not have credibility and character.

    He identified lender’s subjective impression, perception, integrity, social /business reputation and lifestyles.

    Other measures he stated are willingness to repay, credit history of borrower, single most important component of a borrowers make-up, and Credit Bureau Reports as the five Canons of Credit.

    B. Adedipe Associates Limited Chief Consultant, Dr. Biodun Adedipe, who was one of the discussants, said Nigeria is desperately in need of energised SMEs. He recalled that the economy in the last 16 years had a yearly growth rate of 6.1 per cent ahead of other countries except China. “We grew but not inclusively because no additional jobs were created. The more SMEs we can create the more jobs we can create,” he said.

    He advised those engaged in SMEs to be more proactive and market themselves and products on a daily basis and ensure they produce bankable business plan to attract financing. While encouraging SMEs to work on the quality of their products, he stated they can contribute to GDP, employment and export generation, increasing value addition and technological advancement.

    Adedipe advised government to create industrial clusters to ensure that SMEs take advantage of the critical infrastructure provided in such clusters to drive their businesses.

    Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) Chairman, Mr. Kyari A. Bukar, regretted that it was easier to import goods into the country than export.

    He said most SMEs didn’t want to go through the rigours of adhering to local and international standards to meet with standard specifications for exports.

  • Nigeria spends $11b on food imports, says Bol boss

    Nigeria spends $11b on food imports, says Bol boss

    Africa imports over $35.4 billion worth of food items yearly, with Nigeria accounting for $11 billion of the bill, the Acting Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Waheed Olagunju, has said.

    He said Bol was working to make farmers see farming as a business and not a subsistence activity. To this end, BoI has come out to teach farmers good agronomical practices and best practices in soil preparation, among other things.

    Olagunju, who spoke at a media parley in Lagos titled: “Sustaining Nigeria’s industrial sector growth through impactful partnership,’’said as a country with a huge population, Nigeria needs to feed her citizens and also export to other countries to grow her Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    He said: “Huge population can be advantageous if it is productive, otherwise it becomes a liability. As a country with 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs), with each LGA blessed with at least a natural resource, we have no reason not to feed our population or create employment”.

    While encouraging investments in farming and food processing, the BoI chief said investors can never go wrong. According to him, Nigeria ranked fourth with 35 per cent on Return on Investment (RoI) globally.

    He noted that while a lot of countries are in competition for investment resources, Nigeria has all the resources in abundance.

    He said RoI should not be taken for granted, adding “We should try and de-risk our environment, improve on climate and continue to take measures by increasing our ranking in doing business.’’

    While calling for collaborative efforts from multi-lateral agencies, Olagunju stated that industrialisation is a multi-faceted process and no single agency can drive the industrialisation of any country. He said it is the only way the nation’s economy can be transformed in the shortest possible time.

    Olagunju added that Nigeria’s population was growing, hence there was the need to take a quick decision to remedy the challenges that come with population growth. “All hands must be on deck to achieve our desired economic and developmental goals,” he said.

    On the areas of support to agriculture, he said the bank has supported cassava growers and those who have gone further to add value to cassava to produce ethanol, starch, glucose, syrup and starch.

    “We are partnering the Federal Government on the disbursement of N220 billion to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and State Governments to draw up to N2 billion to support farmers in their state at two per cent,” he said.

    In addition, the bank, Olagunju said, made available N140 billion intervention fund as micro-credit programme to over 1.6 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). He said the nation is at a point that it should begin to add value to products from the rudimentary level for local consumption and for exports to generate foreign exchange for the country.

    “If we start adding value to our primary products, we will not have enough people to work. We will stimulate primary products, sell for the local market and export as each of the 774 local governments has at least one local product to process.

    “Unfortunately we are the only oil producing country that is exporting crude oil while others add value before exporting thus earning more. Our advocacy is for a paradigm shift,” Olagunju stated.

  • Content Board, Bol in $100m deal

    The Bank of Industry (Bol) and Nigeria Content Development Board have signed a $100 million deal to support indigenous oil and gas operators.

    BoI’s Acting Managing Director,Waheed Olagunju said the collaboration would reduce the nation’s external dependence in the oil and gas sector in terms of funding and technical knowledge.

    He said the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCI Fund) would address the paucity of funding and inability of operators to access credit, a practice that is affecting manufacturers, service providers and other key players in the oil and gas industry.

    He regretted that most indigenous companies have not been given the advantage they deserve to operate in the sector due to paucity of fund, and praised the Board for unveiling the NCI Fund.

    On how the fund would be managed, Olagunju said it would be managed by BoI and  would be loaned directly to qualifying players in the oil and gas industry under competitive terms.

    This is a departure from the past where the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) provided partial guarantees and 50 per cent interest rebate to service companies that obtained facilities from commercial banks for asset acquisition and projects execution.

    Under the old model which became operational in 2012, three companies-Ladol, Starz and Vandrezzer consummated transactions.

  • Bol gets Ba3 international issuer rating, stable outlook

    Bol gets Ba3 international issuer rating, stable outlook

    Moody’s Investors Service has assigned first-time ratings of Ba3 to the Bank of Industry (BoI), while affirming the development finance institution’s rating as stable.

    According to Moody’s, the ratings are underpinned by a b2 standalone credit profile and two notches of uplift due to Moody’s government support assumptions.

    The rating agency explained that Bank of Industry’s b2 standalone profile reflects its robust capital buffers, with equity to assets ratio of 30 per cent as of September 2015; a stable liability structure made up of long-term funding at concessional rates; and the tangible improvements to the bank’s governance and risk positioning in recent years.

    In its Global Credit Research report, Moody’s noted that the Bank of Industry’s reported nonperforming loans ratio (NPLs) is relatively low at 4.6 per cent as of November, last year and compares favourably to development bank peers globally.

    “Low NPLs are partly explained by the exposures relating to the CBN intervention fund, which are guaranteed by commercial banks and, as such, have generated close to zero NPLs as Bank of Industry exercises the guarantee immediately after any of these loans become delinquent.

    “That said, the ratings currently assigned to Bank of Industry take into account our expectation of a higher NPL level (between five and 10 per cent of total loans) over the next two years, as we expect asset quality to come under pressure as the bank increases its loan exposure within Nigeria’s challenging operating environment.

    “Bank of Industry plans to double its total loan book size over the next four years and to increase its MSME portfolio by 14 times its currently modest size. This MSME target corresponds to an annual growth rate of 93 per cent, albeit from a very low base (four per cent of total portfolio). Bank of Industry projects that about half of new loans that will be extended in the future will be guaranteed by a commercial bank”, it added.

    Commenting on the bank’s credit profile, Moody’s stated that as of September 2015, tangible common equity as a percentage of total assets stood at 30 per cent, up from 26 per cent in 2014, which is substantially stronger than similarly-rated global peers.

    “Although we expect Bank of Industry’s capitalization to decline going forward due to its planned loan book growth of about 20 per cent annually, we anticipate that tangible common equity as a percentage of total assets will remain above 20 per cent for the next 12 to 18 months, which will still leave the bank with a robust capital cushion that compares favourably to peers internationally.

  • Bol, AfDB partner to support export business

    Bol, AfDB partner to support export business

    The Bank of Industry (Bol) is partnering the African Development Bank (AfDB) to assist businesses engaged in export trade.

    Bol Executive Director, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), Mr. Waheed Olagunju, made this known at the ongoing Lagos International Trade Fair organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

    The fair theme is Enhancing Value Addition in the Non-oil economy.

    Olagunju said the theme is very apt as the nation needs to diversify the oil-dependent economy, especially now that income from the sector has dimmed. He said the bank is scouting for consultants to help SMEs write bankable proposals to enable them obtain loans at a single digit interest.

    He also spoke of the need to engage more SMEs and upgrade their accounting skills, which, according to him, has given rise to an account application that will enable even an accounting illiterate to do his business.

    Olagunju said to spread its services, BoI has given  out special funds to specific sectors, such as textile and Nollywood, with billions dedicated to operators. BoI, he said, also has a pact with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to support over 1,000 Corps members with soft loans at a  single digit interest.

    “Bol is not like any other bank, but aimed at empowering and impacting developmental activities to grow the economy. Our consultants are helping the SMEs with preparing their proposals to check the over 90 per cent failure rate of loan applications by them,” Olagunju stated.

    Earlier, Chairman, LCCI, Trade Promotion Board, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, said the chamber aims to draw attention to the need to reposition and diversify the economy, and address the issue of value addition in non-oil export  to ensure that the nation earns more from commodities.

    He said the fair is holding at three locations – Tafawa Balewa Square; Muson Centre, which hosts the corporate and business-to-business exhibition, and Freedom Park on Broad Street, in response to the yearnings of the business world.

    Olawale-Cole said: “This investment conference is aimed at drawing attention to investment opportunities in the non-oil sector with a view to expanding the non-oil export net in line with the vision on diversification of the economy. The much needed development and diversification we crave for cannot be achieved without investments.”

    He observed that foreign-direct investments in the country have dwindled from $1.38 billion in July 2014 to $723.49 million as at July, 2015, pointing out that in real terms, the non-oil sector contributed 90.20 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP).

    This is marginally higher from the figure recorded in the first quarter of 2015 and 89.55 per cent in second quarter of 2014. “This justifies our focus on investment and the non-oil sector development this year,” he added.

    Olawale-Cole praised  the organisation of the 2015 fair, which attracted investors from China, Japan, Egypt, European Union, Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Ghana. He maintained that it demonstrates the acceptance and attractiveness of the country to foreign direct investment.

    LCCI President Mr. Remi Bello regretted the recent report by the World Bank on “Ease of Doing Business” that showed a dismal performance by Nigeria.

    He said the indicators on paying taxes and construction permit are relevant to having an attractive investment climate. He called on the government to put in place a conducive policy and business environment for investments in productive sectors of the economy to thrive.