The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Access Bank Plc have signed an agreement on a $280 million support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), IgbereTV reports.
According to a statement issued by the US Embassy on Monday, the agreement will address the financing gap for the SMEs.
The commitment letter was signed by DFC Chief Executive Officer, Scott Nathan and Access Bank Managing Director, Roosevelt Ogbonna, in Lagos.
In his remark, Nathan said the DFC financing for Access Bank would provide needed liquidity given the global economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added that the intervention was expected to support at least 4,000 new SME loans in Nigeria.
Nathan noted that the loan proceeds would be on-lent across more than a dozen sectors in the Nigerian economy with specific focus on women-owned SMEs, and loans with longer tenors to provide more flexibility to borrowers
