ENUGU, FEBRUARY 8, 2018 – The Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) has called on export-oriented Small and Medium Entrepreneurs in the Southeast and Delta States to access the N500 billion Export Stimulation Facility (ESF), and the N50 billion Export Development Fund, being managed by the Bank to boost their businesses, create more jobs, and contribute to the foreign exchange revenue earnings of the country.
Mr. Abba Bello, the Managing Director and CEO of NEXIM, made the statement available through the Bank’s Enugu Regional Office to journalists after a one-day seminar on “Leveraging Nexim Bank Facilities To Unleash Your Export Potential.”
The seminar held at the Oaklands Centre, Enugu, was organised by the Bank and the SME Centre, Enugu.
Speaking on behalf of the Bank’s MD/CEO, Mr. Chinedu Moghalu, the Head of the Bank’s Enugu Regional Office, stated that the funds are being made available to the NEXIM by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), at a time the Bank has decentralised its operations to all the regions of the country for easier accessibility of its products and services to maximise their impacts.
According to him, “NEXIM Bank is determined to ensure these funds achieve the desired impact of triggering non-oil export development, growth and economic progress in line with its mandate as the Trade Policy Bank of the Federal Government, and the applicable CBN guidelines for the implementation of the facilities.”
Honourable Anayo Agu, the representative of the Enugu State Governor and Special Assistant on SMEs Development, stated that the programme has come at the right time.
According to him, “the opening of NEXIM Bank Regional Office for the Southeast and Delta States in Enugu, and the invitation to the SMEs to access affordable non-oil export facilities, had been the missing link in the efforts of various Governments in the region to derive maximum benefits from their investments in the SME value chain, especially in the agriculture and other non-oil sectors. It provides us the platform to reach heights we could only dream about before now.”
The objectives of the ESF as contained in the CBN guidelines are to: Improve access of exporters to concessionary finance to expand and diversify the non-oil export baskets; attract new investments and encourage re-investments in value-added non-oil exports production and non-traditional exports; shore up non-oil export sector productivity and create more jobs; support export oriented companies to upscale and expand their export operations as well as capabilities; diversify and increase the level of contribution of non-oil exports revenue towards sustainable economic development; and broaden the scope of export financing instruments.
