The Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) has disbursed over N420 billion in funding to small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) operating in the non-oil export sector, a move that has directly created more than 12,000 jobs while stimulating thousands of additional opportunities across related value chains.
This was revealed in Abuja by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NEXIM, Mallam Abubakar Abba Bello, during a forum hosted by the youth wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Bello emphasized that one of the bank’s flagship funding schemes, the Export Development Facility (EDF), was specifically structured to increase financial support for SMEs engaged in non-oil exports. The initiative offers loans at a concessionary single-digit interest rate of 9 percent, aligning with the broader development finance institution lending principles.
Highlighting the revolving nature of the facility, Bello explained that repayments made by beneficiaries allow new exporters to access the scheme seamlessly. “Through the EDF, we have so far financed exports worth about N420 billion, which has in turn generated over 12,000 direct jobs,” he noted.
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He underscored the pivotal role of young people in driving Nigeria’s economic growth, stressing that the nation’s goal of attaining a $1 trillion GDP by 2030 can only be achieved through their robust involvement. Bello further pointed out that NEXIM has adopted a deliberate policy of promoting value addition in export activities to enhance the country’s foreign exchange inflows.
In addition, he disclosed that the bank has relaxed collateral requirements to make funding easier to access, with special focus placed on women and young entrepreneurs within the export value chain programmes.
Reacting to the intervention, APC National Youth Leader, Barrister Dayo Israel, applauded NEXIM’s efforts, describing the non-oil export industry as a major pathway of opportunity for Nigerian youths under the federal government’s ongoing diversification drive.
