Access Bank drives seamless access to CBN’s Creative Loan Scheme
Leading banking giant, Access Bank Plc., has given convincing narrative on the chances of success in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) planned multimillion naira intervention fund for operators in the creative industry to grow their business.
The Creative Sector Loan (CSL) facility structured by the apex bank is designed for entrepreneurs in a number of target sub-sectors including the Fashion industry, Information Technology and Entertainment.
The Central Bank of Nigeria in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee as part of efforts to boost job creation in Nigeria, particularly among the youth, has developed a Creative Industry Financing Initiative.
Recall that the apex bank had in early May this year announced a facility scheme under the CIFI loan initiative, beneficiaries could get up to N500m loans at nine per cent interest rate.
It noted that the creative industries that could apply were fashion, Information Technology, movie production, movie distribution, music and software engineering student loan.
The apex bank made it clear that “Software engineering student can get a loan of up to N3m, N30m for movie production business, N500m for movie distribution business, cover your rental/service fees for fashion and Information Technology business, cover your training fees, equipment fees, and rental/service fees for music business.”
The CBN advised interested applicants in the creative industry to submit applications to their banks for approval and disbursement.
On the heels of the fact that the scheme is open to interested banks’ to drive, Access Bank has taken the bull by the horn in jump-starting the facilitation with training workshops for would-be beneficiaries.
Addressing a number of Fashion entrepreneurs’ at one of the workshops held at the bank’s head office in Lagos on Wednesday, the Zonal Head of the programme in the bank, Mr. Bidemi Adeboye, drilled the participants on the ABC of the processes leading to not only access to the loan which is coming on single digit of nine per cent, but to build their business capacity in a way and manner they will within the regime of the loan access, become employers.
According to him, “Requirements for eligibility include at least two credit reports for the company and each director of the company, proposed schedule for loan repayment, board credit committee report (where applicable), CBN’s intervention which the project is currently benefiting from (CIFI), outstanding obligations from other CBN’s interventions, provision of evidence of documents like minimum equity contribution of 30 per cent and lead mortgage plus board resolution on the loan.
Other critical requirements of the loan eligibility include a business plan, financial plan, economic benefits of the target project, three years audited accounts for existing companies, statement of affairs for start-ups and companies with less than three years of existence.
Adeboye also listed the need for presentation of duly executed offer documents between the bank and loan applicants and Certificate of Incorporation.
In their comments, participants expressed their readiness to access the facility so as to grow their businesses, create employment and contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
However, the Fashion industry operators who expressed interest in the way and manner Access Bank is packaging the scheme, called for tax holiday as approved for their colleagues in the IT and Entertainment industries.
Panelists at the workshop drawn were drawn from both the bank and relevant private sector experts including lawyers, tax experts from PwC and heavy investors in fashion sector.
