Access Bank plc on Tuesday, engaged the players in the creative industry in understanding the benefits, features, terms and conditions of the N21.9 billion fund set aside by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers Committee for Creative Industry Financing Initiative (CIFI).
The creative industry players to benefit from the fund after meeting the requirements include those in fashion, music, Information Technology (IT), entertainment as well as student loans.
The CBN and the Bankers Committee had commissioned Access Bank and GTBank as the lead banks in the CIFI project, which will be implemented in phases, being piloted in Lagos and would be replicated in other areas.
Consequently, Access bank is the first to have submitted applications to the CBN for the disbursement of the fund.
“The CBN CIFI is to support the creative industry so that we can create more jobs, empower people and save foreign exchange. Every bank can access this fund on your behalf,” Chizoma Okoli, executive director, business banking, said in her opening remarks.
She explained that the reason for the engagement was to get information from the players in this industry and be able to present it well.
Part of the consideration in the project is to build a fashion facility, a tech-hub, and an entertainment city for the industry.
Abidemi Adeboye, zonal head SME, banking, Lekki, explained that the objective was to create jobs, develop capacity, build and nurture talent and also see how the country could improve its foreign exchange earnings.
“The loans have not been disbursed. They are being reviewed by the CBN. In fact, the review process was very fast; under a week it was reviewed so they came back to us with a list of additional requirements that were not communicated upfront. We are putting those documents together and we are sending them back this week,” Adeboye explained.
Responding to two journalists after the event, he said, “The reason we are engaging the players is to sensitise them to be aware of this product, the features, terms and conditions, the benefits and even to educate them on documentation requirement,’’ he said. According to him, documentation is a major issue why people are not able to access fund.
“We have told them about the tax side of it, the legal side of it and all that. What we have also done as a bank is that we have partnered with some consultants that can help them to put together their business plan, which has always been a challenge,” Adeboye said.
