The African Development Bank (AfDB) has agreed to provide two sovereign-guaranteed multitranche lines of credit (LoCs) to support the modernisation and expansion of export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.
The development finance institution has agreed to provide the Nigeria Bank of Industry (BoI) with a $500-million credit line and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (Nexim) a $200-million credit line.
The LoCs would allow local SMEs to be more competitive, scale up their operations and ultimately create more jobs in Nigeria, the AfDB stated.
The credit lines would include a technical assistance package to strengthen the institutional capacity of BoI and Nexim, as well as their SME clients.
The AfDB said the LoCs would provide multisector financing to deal with the challenge that SMEs faced in accessing finance in Nigeria. It believed this would assist export-oriented SMEs to become more competitive, ensure sustainable growth of their operations and generate employment in the Nigerian productive sectors.