THE Bank of Industry, BoI, has signed an agreement with the Rural Finance Institution Building Programme, RUFIN, an initiative of the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development, FMARD, to provide access to soft loans to 100,000 small businesses.

The partnership is part of the federal government’s activities to stimulate the Nigerian economy and deepen financial inclusion for the economically active rural poor.

The partnership also signals the beginning  of events by BOI to reach 100,000 new beneficiaries of MarketMoni through RUFIN across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones within the second quarter of 2017, as accredited individuals will have direct access to quick, easy and interest-free loans of between N10,000 to N100,000 for up to six months at no other costs except a one-time five per cent administrative fee.

According to the Bank, it hopes to leverage the success of RUFIN’s financial empowerment efforts across 12 states in Nigeria in order to reach its target GEEP market. “Already, the first phase of the loan disbursements is ongoing across Katsina, Nassarawa, Zamfara, Edo, Oyo and Lagos States, driven by RUFIN-mentored microfinance banks, MFBs, and microfinance institutions, MFIs.

—  May 8, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT