Association Discloses Harsh Conditions Frustrating Access To Bank Loans

Farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs disclosed the challenges stopping them from getting loans dedicated to them for the expansion of their farms and businesses at the Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry, and commercial banks.

Speaking at a one-day follow-up workshop on how to write bankable and business plan organised by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council in Ilorin, they listed some the challenges that stopped them from accessing loans provided by the banks.

According to the Chairman of Nigeria Soyabean Association, Mr Olawoyin Solomon, who also doubles as chairman of the National Association of Small Scale Industrialists, he disclosed that banks, apart from compelling applicants for loans to form cooperative societies, also made them to deposit funds as high as N100,000 as initial deposit in their personal account.

NEPC Chief Promotion Officer in Charge of Small And Medium Scale Enterprises, Mrs Oyinkan Duke, further noted that the aim of the workshop was to make more farmers and entrepreneurs eligible for loans.