Jaiz Bank gets $25m from Islamic Corp for SMEs

Jaiz Bank Plc, has received a $25 million Sharia-compliant line of financing (LOF) from the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) to support small and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria.

A statement on Sunday from the Group said, Ayman Sejiny, the Chief Executive of ICD, the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group and Hassan Usman, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Jaiz Bank, signed the $25m LOF agreement to support the SMEs in Nigeria, including those adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Out of this, $10m is allocated under the ICD’s $250m COVID-19 support package to help the private sector affected by the pandemic by leveraging on the expertise of the banking system of its member countries.

“We have no doubt that this line of financing facility will provide muchneeded support to private-sector businesses including those which have been affected by the pandemic,” said Sejiny.

Also reacting, Usman said, “We are delighted with this partnership with ICD, which started in 2018 with a USD 20m Line of Finance to support SME’s in Nigeria. The Line was fully utilised by eligible SME’s with a substantial portion going to the agricultural sector.

“The facility was fully repaid earlier this year and has helped in generating over 791 direct jobs and put the bank among the major banks in repatriating non-oil export proceeds for the country,” he said.

“The additional $25m line of financing facility will further enhance the bank’s capacity to continue to provide support to the local private sector enterprises with substantial socio-economic impact.”