By Haruna Salami
The Chairman Senate Committee on Local Content, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) has urged women doing business in the oil and gas sector to take advantage of $20 million in Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) bank specifically for them to borrow at 5 per cent interest rate.
The senator made the call Wednesday during the budget defence of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) at the National Assembly, Abuja.
The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, disclosed in the course of the meeting that the board has $50 million with the Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) bank broken into $30 million working capital and capacity building and $20 million for women in oil and gas.
This immediately aroused the interest of Natasha, who could not hide her excitement saying “this is my first time knowing this and I think many women and many Nigerians with great ideas don’t know that this fund is available for them to access.
“And I won’t be wrong if I say most of this fund is lying there generating interest for God knows who. This information is key. It is important we put it out so that entrepreneurs will know these funds are there for them.
The ES, NCDMB, Mr. Ogbe said the board went further to give the fund at single digit interest rate of 5 per cent and also engaged various women groups to sensitive women to access the fund.
This makes NCDMB, indeed a very gender friendly agency which decided that the more women participate in the industry, the better for the economy.
However, the ES said the money for women is not a grant, but money meant to be wisely invested for easy repayment for other women to access.
He disclosed that about 3 companies owned by women have accessed the fund for women in oil and gas and the board has urged more “very serious minded companies owned by women in that sector to come forward to access it”.
It was also disclosed that there is Nigeria content intervention fund of $300 million domiciled in the Bank of Industry (BOI), which is available to be accessed by Nigerian entrepreneurs interested in building capacity in the oil and gas sector.
According to NCDMB, it is interesting to note that the entire $300m has been lent out to the industry. In fact, the total amount lent out now is in the region of $330m because those who borrowed repaid, making additional funds available to be lent to others.
However, NCDMB preferred not to disclose the Nigeria content development fund domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the public.
