South-East branch of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has alleged unwritten policy against industrialists in the geo-political zone by the Bank of Industry. But the bank has said there was no such thing.
BOI, which is 60 years this year, is generally meant to provide loan facility to all Nigerian industrialists that meet its loan requirements, but South-East BOI alleged that implementation appears to be a major problem, saying that there seems to an unwritten policy to frustrate the South East industrialists and provide assistance to their counterparts in other zones of the country.
This, they said at an interactive meeting between Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Imo/Abia branch to see how to bridge this gap, adding that if BOI is meant to serve every
Nigerian entrepreneur who qualified and should ensure that its services are not lopsided.
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The interactive meeting, which lasted four hours, was held at Eze Imo Palace at Mbari Street, Owerri, Imo State.
In his opening remarks, R. Nwabueze Jones Anyanwu known as (RNJ Anyanwu), a lawyer and chairman of MAN Imo/Abia branch, said the main
the objective of the interactive meeting was to bridge the gap between industrialists at his branch and BOI which is the service provider, and see how industrialists could access the loans and products provided by the BOI for entrepreneurs to boost their businesses.
He urged BOI to ensure that its implementation policy is carried out in a manner that will wipe or remove the deep-rooted perception of discrimination against the South East.
According to Anyanwu, MAN members in the zone “must learn how to keep a record of all their transactions to enable them to fulfil the legal requirement of BOI”.
But in its reaction to the allegation, BOI said it was not biased in its operations.
Obaro Marvel Osah, the regional manager (South East) SME group of BOI, said: “It is not true that you are not getting the loans but the problem is you are not meeting the requirements”.
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Osah mentioned three companies in the South East that are still benefiting from BOI’s several products.
According to him ‘Those who are not getting should ask those who are getting what processes or what they do to access the loan.”
According to him, “Bank of Industry is a national franchise; the services are available to everybody. The problem is that they have not applied or they have not asked those who got how they did it”.
He noted that out of the 36 states of the federation, BOI has its presence in 22 states to serve all Nigerians, saying that their doors are open daily for industrialists. He provided the website as
www.boi.ng which he said contains all information and a whole lot of BOI products for entrepreneurs to access.
He also appealed for constant interaction with MAN members to remove the perceived implementation discrimination against the South East entrepreneurs. According to him, “BOI objective is how to make a business grow and BOI is 60 years this year”.
