Jaiz Bank To Support MSMEs With BoI’s N3bn Facility
UMORU ABDULKADIR
Jaiz Bank Plc, the premier non-interest bank has assured Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises operators in the country that it would boost their operations with the recently secured N3 billion financing facility from the Bank of Industry (BoI).
Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Usman Hassan, said the bank would continue to target an organic growth strategy that would enable it have presence in all 36 states of the country following the recent national banking license granted it.
Hassan noted that despite opening shop about five years ago as a regional Islamic bank, it has expanded its total network to about 39 branches, four of which are now operational in Lagos,
He stated that the bank, in the last five years of operation has given its management more insight into opportunities that overflow in the nation’s non- interest banking space hence the decision to go national.
Speaking further, Hassan promised the bank’s over 100,000, shareholders that dividend of their investment would begin to flow in from next year, considering the bank’s impressive performances, over the years, emphasizing that the institution had made history as the first non-interest bank to break even after three years of operation.
He said the bank’s results in the just ended quarter further demonstrated the bank has the capacity to grow sustainably in line with its strategic vision of becoming the leading non-interest bank in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2022.
Hassan said the management is determined to be in every state of the country, to meet the financial services needs that address specific needs of customers irrespective of their faith and religion.
Vindicating the national banking license granted the bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria, he said the institution does not represent any particular religion but exists to meet the needs of a diverse customer categories of persons cutting across faiths and nationalities across the country.
Hassan stressed that the bank’s products were not religious’ products, but open and available to all, irrespective of their faith or religion.
He said, “It is a mode of financing that tries to address human needs directly by providing goods and services on a payment basis different from conventional banking that we know. Literarily, that is what non-interest or Islamic banking is doing anywhere in the world. It is about providing financing to people who cannot afford to buy directly with their own resources at a time. So, rather than give money, we provide the services and goods people are looking for to meet their consumption needs or businesses. We have seen from our operations so far that all manner of persons do come to us and we do business with them. This, I believe, is what we have been doing.”
Founded in 2003, Jaiz Bank Plc, is a bank in Nigeria operating under Islamic banking principles and is a non-interest bank. It is the first non-interest bank established in Nigeria and is headquartered in Abuja, the capital city of the country. As of December 2012, the bank was a medium-sized, financial services provider in Nigeria. It has a total asset of 286.2 million USD (NGN: 87.3 billion)
Comments are closed.