Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has solicited for the intervention of the Bank of Industry (BOI) to improve agricultural practice and move the state from subsistence to commercial agriculture and agro -processing hub.
Fayemi disclosed this at the official opening of the Ekiti branch office of BOI in Ado Ekiti, stating that the state under his leadership had demonstrated commitment to ease of doing business and that his vision is to make Ekiti a destination of choice for investments by providing enabling environment to the small and medium-scale enterprises.
The Bank of Industry Limited (BOI) is the oldest and largest Development Financial Institution currently operating in Nigeria. It began operations in 1959 as the Investment Corporation of Nigeria (ICON) Limited and reconstituted to become the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB) Limited In 1964.
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It was reconstructed in 2001 out of the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB) Limited to Provide financial assistance for the establishment of large, medium and small projects as well as the expansion, diversification, rehabilitation and modernization of existing enterprises.
The governor also called on BOI to look at the area of the knowledge economy, which is one of the pillars of his administration for investment, adding that the agricultural sector is central in the focus of his administration because the bulk of the people is there.
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Managing Director of BOI, Olukayode Pitan, who was represented on the occasion by the Executive Director, Corporate Services, Mr Jonathan Obin said the objective of the initiative is to partner with state governments towards supporting micro, small and medium enterprises in such states.
He said though the bank’s matching fund partnership with Ekiti, with a total fund size of N200 million, it had been able to create loans worth N167 million with thousands of direct and indirect jobs created in the process.
