Ayo Ajayi, AfricaNews reporter in Lagos, Nigeria
Commercial Banks in Oyo State in Nigeria have been called upon to make more soft loans available to medium-scale businessmen and women as well as emerging entrepreneurs in order to curtail their financial difficulty. The plea was made by the state governor.
During the official commissioning of a branch of Oceanic Bank Plc at Apake, Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala said that through such aid, business people would be able to develop their businesses and help grow the economy, reduce unemployment and crime, as well as alleviate poverty.
The governor also used the occasion to announce that business activities would soon resume at the ultra-modern shopping complex in Ogbomosho. He enjoined the new bank to make use of the opportunities to be offered by the complex through collaboration with the prospective occupants for mutual benefits.
He pledge to give maximum attention to creation of new international markets and free trade zones, encourage massive private housing development, invest in massive infrastructural development, as well as stimulate general economic activities in the stat through a conscientious efforts of private-public partnership initiatives.
He solicited support and cooperation of the bank for his administration’s efforts to eliminate poverty in the state through facilitation and growth of blue chips companies.
Keywords: nigeria microcredit business
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