The Bank of Industry (BoI) has stated that it set aside about N50billion for food processing companies in the country, to save the huge foreign exchange the country spends yearly on food imports.
OlukayodePitan, the Managing Director, BoI, disclosed this when he received the House of Representatives committee members on industry, trade and investment, during an oversight function to some of the industrial firms supported by the Development Finance Institution (DFI) in Lagos.
The Managing Director who was represented by the Executive Director, SME, WaheedOlagunju, said more than 96 per cent of its risk assets are performing, maintaining that the bank closed the financial year of 2016 with a Non Performing Loan (NPL) ratio of 3.7 per cent, the lowest in the country.
He said with the support of the Federal Government and the National Assembly, the bank was able to guarantee a line of credit worth over $500 million from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) that required a sovereign guarantee.
AbubakarMoriki,the house committee chairman, said BoI has a crucial role in revamping industries that have gone moribund as a result of inadequate funding.
