ACCESS Bank Plc has expressed its commitment to ensure that players in the creative industry have access to the funds under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Creative Industry Financing Initiative. As part of efforts to support the CIFI, the bank organised a two-day forum at its head office in Lagos, which was attended by stakeholders from four sectors of the creative industry, namely music, movie, fashion and information technology.

The CIFI is the CBN’s initiative, developed in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee to boost job creation, develop local capacity, preserve foreign exchange and ensure empowerment within the creative industry. The first tranche of the CIFI loan has over N20 billion set aside to be disbursed to borrowers within the creative industry.

The loan, which had a maximum interest rate of nine percent per annum, has a repayment period of up to 10 years. The first day of the forum was attended by players in the music and movie industries, while the second day had participants from the IT and the fashion industry.

Each session was interactive with experts in legal, tax/financial, and business consulting on the panel, while Access Bank’s representatives on the panel answered questions and explained the loan eligibility requirements. Chizoma Okoli, executive director, business banking, Access Bank, assured the various industry players that CIFI would be a great boost for the entertainment industry.

“CBN’s Creative Industry Financing Initiative was developed to support the creative sector and to enable the sector build capacity and create more jobs. Access Bank, being the first bank to have successfully submitted its application to the CBN, understands the necessary documentation required to access this loan. This is why the bank put together this two-day forum to help our customers by simplifying and guiding them through the loan process,” she said.

– July 12, 2019 @ 17:17 GMT |