Access Bank plans more funding for creative industry

Access Bank Plc has reiterated its commitment to lending more to the Creative Industry. The lendr’s plan aligns with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive to banks to support the sector, which has capacity to attract foreign exchange and create jobs for Nigeerians.

Executive Director, Business Banking at Access Bank plc, Mrs. Chizoma Okoli, said the  CBN Creative Industry Financing Initiative Fund  (CIFI) was established in conjunction with the Bankers’ Committee and will enable businesses in the industry to obtain loans up to the tune of N500 million.

She said the initiative is targeted at boosting job creation in Nigeria, particularly among the youths.

Okoli said Access Bank  was committed to making the CIFI a huge success. She said that Fashion, Information Technology, Movies, and Music are the four segments in the scheme.  She explained that  to be eligible for the initiative, interested borrowers must have businesses in fashion, Information Technology, Movie Production, Movie Distribution, Music and Software Engineering Student Loan.

According to her, having satisfied the requirements of having a business in any of the areas highlighted above, the prospective borrower is then required to prepare a business plan or proposal on how much is needed for such a business.  She said the loan will be given at a single digit interest rate, adding that the loans can be accessed at  a maximum interest rate of nine per annum (all charges inclusive) on all loans at any bank.

“Our support for the creative industry is meant to create more jobs. Every bank can access the Fund on your behalf. We want to handle it in a way we have information from you, so that we can have informed decision. We do not know the industry and we do not claim to know it. We have already listed the things you need to bring to be able to access the funds,” Okoli said

Another staff of Access Bank, Bidemi Adeboye, said there are many people in the movie industry value chain. “We need to help them create jobs. There are also Forex to be made in the Forex sector. How can we unleash this sector. Some people looked at fashion, movies and IT. We need a training school. For IT sector, the CBN wants to build a tech-hub. We need to bring shared facility to Nigerians . It must be creative jobs for you to secure the loan. If you are planning for the loan, it must be for creative jobs,” he said.