The Bank of Industry (BoI) has reiterated its commitment to financing manufacturing sector of the economy with aim of enhancing capacities of local production firms especially those that are into manufacturing of armoured vehicles and other military equipement.

Mr.Rasheed Olaoluwa, Managing Director of BoI, said that the panacea to the country’s present challenges is hinged on improved industrialisation of its economy, adding that the bank would spur economic activities in the manufacturing sector through its lending channels to various clusters identified by the Bank.

Olaoluwa said this during a facility tour of Proforce Ltd., an armoured vehicle manufacturing company at Ogun State.

The Guardain reported him to have said that the tour of the company has shown that a Nigerian company could acquire modern defence technology expertise to produce world class products.

“We feel much fulfilled. We funded the company and the facility has been well utilised. The company has succeeded in developing domestic capacity for the production of armoured vehicles by acquiring modern technology from all over the world to make military-grade defence vehicles.

“We have a security challenge in the country but the company has saved us the stress of importing armoured tanks into the country thereby saving us huge foreign exchange. They have also been earning foreign exchange into the country through the export of their armoured vehicles to other African countries.”

He noted that the challenges confronting the country were occasioned by falling commodity prices which does not affect the engineering and technology sector.

According to him, the bank considered the antecedents of the promoter of a business and relevance of the sector in which the company is engaged to the overall economic circumstance of the nation before granting loan applications.

“Proforce has the potential to grow globally. We welcome new loan application from them to expand their operations,” Olaoluwa said.

On his part, Managing Director of Proforce Ltd, Adetokunbo Ogundeyin, commended the bank for improving access to the facility, noting that its operations wouldn’t have grown without funding from the bank.

He said: “We need to promote the manufacturing of armoured vehicles that are locally produced. Through our operations, we are adding value to the Nigerian economy in terms of employment, technology transfer initiatives, foreign exchange earnings and local content promotion.

“Any manufacturer watching their cost should feel free to seek finance from BoI; they are receptive and ready to render finance and advisory services. Proforce Ltd has grown tremendously since our first contact with BoI in 2012, our staff ‎strength has increased to 250 with three factories across the country.
https://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2016/02/bois-funds-to-enhance-local-production-capacity-growth-of-smes/