The Bank of Industry (BoI) recorded N2.3 trillion profit before tax under President Muhammadu Buhari, Chairman Board of Directors of the bank, Alhaji Aliyu Dikko, has said.
Dikko, made this known on the sidelines of the 63rd Annual General Meeting of the bank in Abuja.
“It has been excellent. If you look at the eight years when we came on board the total assets of the bank was about N630 billion.
“Right now it has grown to about 2. 3 trillion. So you can see that it has multiplied by more than three times.
”So the bank has done excellently well in the last eight years,” he said.
On Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Dikko said the risk encountered in MSME businesses is that money could be lost easily.
According to him, this makes it difficult for financial institutions to easily give out loans to small business owners.
”What we are trying to get the government to do is to create a corporation that guarantees SMEs.
“Once we have that, the bank will be willing to give to the SMEs, because they know that whatever they give to them is guaranteed by any organisation.”
On the bank’s projections for 2023, the board chairman said Africa’s economic growth was expected to remain slow, due to spill over effects from uncertainties in the global environment.
He said as the debt servicing burden rises, a growing number of African Governments are expected to seek bilateral and multilateral support towards managing the adverse economic impact.
He quoted the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs as projecting Africa’s growth to slow for an estimated 4. 1 percent in 2022 to 3. 8 percent in 2023.
“The IMF has however upgraded Nigeria’s 2023 economic growth projection to 3. 2 percent from 3. 1 percent earlier reported.
”The IMF noted that the upward review was due to sustainable measures being implemented by the government to address insecurity issues in the oil sector.
“The Chief Executive Officer, NNPC, projects that daily oil production in the country can hit 2. 2 million barrels in 2023 if adequate security measures are put in place to protect oil assets.
”Based on the foregoing it is expected that exchange pressure on the Naira should be fairly reduced in the year, due to projected accretion of foreign exchange revenue.
“Thus, a peaceful political transition to a new government, following the 2023 presidential elections is also expected to further boost investor confidence in Nigeria,” Dikko said.
On downside risks and potential headwinds, he expressed hope that economic advisers and policy makers would be circumspect and proactive in placing adequate measures to manage the risks.
He reiterated the bank’s commitment to enable seamless integration with new developments and ensure purposeful growth in the economy. (NAN)
