Imported User:
The Managing Director and Chief Executive of Nigeria Export Import bank (NEXIM) Mr Robert Orya, has said the bank needs to move its capital base from N50 billion to N250 billion in order to finance developmental projects.
Speaking with journalists after an inspection of Beloxxi Industries by members of the House Committee on Banking and Currency, Orya said although it would be a drop in the investment opportunities that abound in the non-oil sector of the country, he said it would be a step forward.
“If you give us for a start N200 billion or N250 billion, I think we can make an impact but based on the size of our economy and looking at the non-oil sector that we have not even scratched, that will be just a drop, but at least a step forward, if we are able to get up to N200 or N250 billion capitalisation”, he stated.
Noting that NEXIM has a current capitalisation of less than N50 billion, Orya said the bank cannot in its present position raise funds through bonds. He said “NEXIM has a small balance sheet and you need to be rated, you need to have a very good balance sheet to be able to take on higher funding obligation. But where we are now, we have a balance sheet of less than N50 billion.”
He however noted that to porpel the industrialisation tendencies of the country, there is need for the provision of long-term funding at low cost for emerging entrepreneurs. According to him, “What industrialists need in Nigeria is long-term funding at low cost, and I think that is what we need to jump start our industrialisation.
“So we need long term funding and I believe NEXIM is in a very vantage position to be able to get more than what we have done”, he stated.
