Abia Seeks to Develop Small Businesses with SME Bank

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Abia State Government has disclosed that its Small and Medium Scale Micro-Finance Bank will serve the needs of startups for business development.

This was disclosed by the state governor, Mr Okezie Ikpeazu through the Special Adviser to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu on Social Investments, Mr Chinenye Nwogu.

He said the SME bank, which was unveiled in Aba last Friday by Mr Ikpeazu, would focus on providing funds for developing small and medium scale businesses in Aba so as to make economic growth a reality in the state.

He said the idea of the bank was mulled by the Governor when he assumed office in 2015.

“The vision for this bank is to hand it over to the citizens to address the bottlenecks that hinder businesses from accessing micro credits so that they can continue to inject money and grow their businesses.

“So, this bank is a response to the challenge of access to finance in Abia and in the course of time, the bank will transit to become a bank owned by the people and not the government,” Mr Nwogu said.

The Managing Director of the bank, Mr Kingsley Nwobilor, also pointed out that the establishment of the bank was the right step in the right direction.

He thanked the Governor for the opportunity to showcase his understanding of what businesses in Abia needed, saying that the bank would provide a number of business credit opportunities for Abia entrepreneurs, to easily access funds within 24 hours and develop their businesses.

Mr Nwaobilor listed the bank’s packages to include Cluster Credit Scheme for traders, Save to Own for tricycle operators and taxi drivers, and Thrift Savings Credit Scheme for traders, especially market women.

Others are the Abia SME Bank Diaspora Investment Fund and Abia Youth Entrepreneurship scheme.

On his part, the Chairman, Ariaria International Market Traders Association, Mr Emeka Igara and President, Leather Products Manufacturers Association of Abia State (LEPMASS), Mr Okechukwu Williams, thanked the state government for establishing the bank.

They observed that the bank would help artisans expand and grow their work.