Kwara State to leverage BOI expertise for industrial growth

The Kwara State government has said it will leverage the technical and financial capacity of the Bank of Industry (BOI) to build a partnership for sustainable entrepreneurship development in the State.

The Governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed, noted that partnering with BOI would help upscale already existing entrepreneurship schemes in the state, to drive development and maximise economic growth for the people of Kwara.

Ahmed during a courtesy visit by the Managing Director, BoI, Olukayode Pitan, stated that the State has also established an Export Processing Zone (EPZ) for processing most of its agricultural commodities, saying that the bank’s technical and financial support are key to driving ‎the EPZ.

“No doubt, we are aware of the various supports you have given to entrepreneurship development in Kwara which had also triggered a lot of multiplier effects in other sectors in the State. We already have a scheme to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), but we will be delighted to see a kind of partnership where the Kwara State government and BoI would merge our own initiative with theirs to achieve a mutual benefit for all,” he said.

Ahmed hailed BOI for its interventions programmes in the state which has prevented a lot of small businesses from closing shop.

“Our arms are wide open to receive you and we will take off from where we stopped, because we believe partnerships such as this, is critical to drive SMEs and industrial development,” he noted.

Earlier, the Managing Director commended the Governor for his tireless efforts aimed at boosting SME development, pointing out that the bank had so far disbursed over N9 billion to support small businesses in the State.

“We are here to solicit your partnership in respect of the N2 billion matching fund, we believe this initiative should be expanded to support more businesses and youths to be gainfully employed. This is the only way we can address the high unemployment rates in this country,” he said.

While in the state, the managing director visited three factories which are also beneficiaries of the bank’s intervention funds on a guided tour.

According to him, industrialising Nigeria is the surest way to go in achieving rapid economic growth and development. He said: “We will continue to support viable businesses to grow because of the multiplier effects they have on the economy at large.”