Heritage financing of SMEs hits N100bn by 2016

Heritage Bank has said it is increasing its lending to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to N100 billion by the end of 2016.

If this occurs, Heritage bank may be the biggest investor on SMEs in less than four years.

Already, Heritage Bank has supported SMEs to the tune of N23.5bn within the two and a half year of its existence.

Head of SME Product, Concept, Ideas and Development, Heritage Bank, Mr. Ekene Maduake disclosed this at the annual conference of Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN).

Speaking on Heritage Bank’s perspective on the theme of the conference, ‘Banks and SMEs in Nigeria: Prospects, Challenges and Success Stories,” Madueke said that “by the end of the 2016 financial year, we intend to grow this volume to about a N100bn.”

He disclosed that based on the understanding that SMEs are the engine of growth in any economy, the bank has supported various sectors in the SME space, especially those that have the potential of creating more employment in the system.

“We have supported SMEs operators in the area of bottled water production, printing companies, beverages, those in the agricultural sector and other operators in the SME space,” he stated.

One area where Heritage Bank has helped SME operators is how to differentiate between a company’s business operational cash flow and that of personal cash flow. “We do this to enhance shared value, because as their businesses get better, we also get better as a bank. It is also another way of reaching the unbanked,” he stated.