AfDB describes Fidelity Bank as a niche player in the MSME sector, seals $50m deal
In clear understanding of its retail banking command, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has partnered Fidelity Bank Plc in sealing a $50m financing agreement aimed at the funding and promoting the growth of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the country.
Senior Director/Country Representative at AfDB, Ebrima Faal, who signed the agreement on behalf of the DFI, described Fidelity Bank as a niche player in the MSME sector.
He explained that “The $50m funding will strengthen the bank’s performance in advancing credit to small businesses.
Continuing, he averred that “AfDB is excited about this partnership. The lines of credit tended to be general support for SMEs. This one has a strong emphasis on gender. It can be considered as a vanguard credit for us.
“Our main focus is to reach out to SMEs to give the much-needed impact. We count on you to ensure that the requirement for loan disbursement is okay to enable it to reach out to the target audience,” Faal added.
Business Hilights recalls that the board of the development finance institution (DFI) at AfDB had approved the fund on October 10, 2018, to boost the development of small businesses in Nigeria. Key condition attached to the deal is that at least 30 per cent of the fund must go into promoting businesses that were owned and ran by women entrepreneurs.
Commenting on the development at the signing of the agreement in Abuja on Tuesday, Deputy Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Mohammed Balarabe, who signed for on behalf of the bank, said in line with Fidelity Bank’s culture of supporting small businesses, intelligence will be applied in the disbursement and monitoring of beneficiaries business performance from time to time with adequate advisory supports.
Balarabe noted that the $50m funding will strengthen the bank’s performance in advancing credit to small businesses.
