Bonaventure Okhaimo, MD/CEO, National Credit Guarantee Company (NCGC), on Thursday disclosed that the first phase of the scheme will unlock over ₦170 billion credit guarantees for women and youth-led MSMEs in Nigeria.
Okhaimo made this known during the official signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the NCGC and 18 Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), to formalize NCGC’s pilot phase credit guarantees offering.
He disclosed that under the pilot phase, about ₦5 billion guarantee loans will be created for the participating PFIs that signed the MoU, with focus on businesses in priority sectors like renewable energy, light manufacturing, fashion and other areas.
“That ₦5 billion for them will create about ₦100 billion credit guarantees. And that will create about ₦170 billion credit guarantees for women and youth-led MSMEs in Nigeria that are operating in the priority sectors.”
Okhaimo said the NCGC will act as co-guarantees and technical assistance to support PFIs, and provide individual guarantees for term loans of up to 5 years and working capital for about 24 months, ranging from ₦50 million to ₦10 billion. It will also provide portfolio guarantees with single obligor limits of ₦50 million and portfolio caps of ₦5 billion.
He therefore urged Nigerian women and youth-led businesses with bankable ideas to approach any of the PFIs and that the federal government through the NCGC will bear 60 percent of their risk under the partial credit guarantees. “If you give a loan of ₦1 million to a customer, NCGC would take ₦600,000. If you don’t pay your ₦1 million, NCGC will pay ₦600, 000.”
According to him, the scheme is aimed at deepening access to finance for women and youth-led MSMEs, which currently stands at about 7 percent. He disclosed that the NCGC with collaboration from other financial institutions hope to improve MSMEs’ access to finance to between 10 percent or 16 percent in five years.
Samson Gbadamosi, deputy executive secretary, Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), said the association has advocated for a credit guarantee scheme, because it will bring relief to MSMEs.
According to him, the national credit guarantee scheme has been on the advocacy radar of NASME in the past 15 years. “It’s like a dream come true and prayer answered.”
Gbadamosi said NASME has over 30 million MSMEs on its database, and that NCGC will solve one of their teething problems. “In the past, MSMEs have been seen as a very risky, high-risk species in the financial ecosystem.”
Tinuola Aigwedo, executive director, strategy and operations, NCGC, emphasised the transformative potential of the initiative, and reiterated that the onboarding of PFIs is a major milestone in fulfilling NCGC’s mandate, aligning directly with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which prioritises youth empowerment, women’s economic inclusion, and support for local enterprises.
“This partnership is not just about financial inclusion, it’s about economic empowerment. By unlocking access to credit for youth and women entrepreneurs, we’re laying the foundation for a more resilient and equitable economy,” Aigwedo said.
