The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has urged the Bank of Industry (BOI) to partner with the state to move farmers from subsistence to commercial agriculture and agro processing levels.
Fayemi also called on BOI to look at the area of the knowledge economy, which is one of the pillars of his administration, for investment.
This was as the bank said it had disbursed N19.
7 billion to over 3,000 enterprises in the South-West region in the past three years from its own funds.
The governor stated this at the official opening of Ekiti branch office of BOI in Ado Ekiti recently.
According to the governor, Ekiti had demonstrated its commitment to ease of doing business, saying, “Our vision is to make Ekiti a destination of choice for investments by providing enabling environment to the small and medium-scale enterprises.
“Our agricultural sector is central in our focus because the bulk of our people are there.
We want to move them from subsistence farming to commercial and agro-processing.
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Managing Director of BOI, who was represented on the occasion by the Executive Director, Corporate Services, Mr Jonathan Obin said through the bank’s matching fund partnership with Ekiti, which was signed in March 2010, with a total fund size of N200 million, it had been able to create loans worth N167 million with thousands of direct and indirect jobs created in the process.
“The objective of this initiative is to partner with state governments towards supporting micro, small and medium enterprises in such states, by each party setting aside equal amounts of funds,” he said.
Fayemi solicits BOI’s intervention in commercial farming