BOI Launches N1bn Fashion Fund
The Bank of Industry (BOI) has launched a N1 billion fashion fund to boost the creative arts industry in Nigeria, noting that the fund is in fulfilment of the bank’s commitment to develop special funds and credit products targeted at specific Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) clusters and customer segments to deepen its penetration and enhance support to these clusters and customer segments.
Managing Director, BOI, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, explained that the Development Finance Institution (DFI) is excited about the fashion Fund because of the potential impact it promises to have on the Nigerian fashion industry and indeed on the entire economy.
The BOI boss during the official launch of the fund, stated that fashion is an international, highly globalised industry, with clothing often designed in one country, manufactured in another and sold worldwide, maintaining that globally, fashion industry revenue is over a trillion dollars.
According to him, in the months ahead, more funds and product programmes will definitely be designed and launched to support the various SME clusters already identified by the bank.
“At BOI, we have identified a total of thirty-four (34) SME Clusters nationwide to drive our new SME financing paradigm.
The fashion cluster is the next one we are targeting with the fashion fund being launched here today,” he said.
In his words,”At the Bank of Industry, we have resolved to strategically approach the issue of SME financing using the cluster approach, which has been successfully implemented in many fast-growing economies in the world. India is a very good example, where hundreds of SME clusters have been identified and developed.”
He noted that BOI’s cluster approach recognises that one size does not fit all, saying that consequently, the bank is able to tailor its lending criteria to the peculiarities of each cluster, based on a deep analysis and understanding of the dynamics of each SME cluster.
According to the Managing Director, Nigeria’s African prints, known as ankara fabrics, have become very popular in the fashion world due to the ingenuity and industry of Nigerian designers such as Dakova, Frank Oshodi, Tiffany Amber, Deola Sagoe, Jewel by Lisa, and the likes, adding that amazing designs are now created using local fabrics and are featured in both local and international fashion shows.
”It is important to state that many of our fashion designers have received training in some of the best fashion schools in the world, and therefore have the intellect, the talent, the creativity, the skills and the drive to take Nigeria’s fashion industry to the next level on the global fashion stage,” he said.
He stressed that a growing number of shopping malls and e-commerce platforms are emerging in Nigeria for fashion designers and businesses to promote their brands to a mass market.
”We see an opportunity to support Nigeria’s leading fashion businesses, to increase their production volumes and quality, thereby making them more competitive in both the domestic and international markets,” he added.
He stressed that the growth in Nigeria’s urban population, the positive macro-economic environment, increasing purchasing power of the emerging middle class and a strong appetite for consumer goods, are positive factors in favour of a flourishing fashion cluster.
He said the fund will give the fashion industry an important opportunity to diversify Nigeria’s economy and create jobs, particularly among the youth, catalyse the fashion cluster and help in creating millions of job opportunities while also generating foreign exchange earnings for the businesses and the country at large.
At BOI, we are determined to support Nigeria’s real sector; we are committed to making a real difference in the financing and support of our SMEs. We believe that by so doing, we will be firmly and surely on the path to realising our vision of becoming the leading development finance institution in Africa,” he said.