The federal government of Nigeria has declared its intentions to establish an entrepreneurship bank to help fund businesses in Nigeria. This announcement was made by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, while speaking to women traders at a programme “Next Level Conversation” in Abuja on Monday 28th January 2019. 

Professor Osinbajo stated that the issue of giving cheap loans to small businesses has been a major topic in the Buhari-led administration. So far, the government has made some efforts to provide credit facilities to small and micro businesses. Some of the credit schemes include TraderMoni, MarketMoni, FarmerMoni. But considering these are very small credit schemes, an entrepreneur bank is likely to provide better opportunities.

“We think there is a need for a bank that will be a bit more nimble about entrepreneurship; a bank that has a bit more flexibility. That is why we are talking about Entrepreneur Bank; of course, we will need a bill in the National Assembly. In the meantime, we think we can start with a bond to put a lot around it without necessarily building another big bureaucracy,’’ said Vice President Osinbajo.

One of the challenges for many businesses in Africa is access to funding. But while setting up a bank could help to address this, there are other factors which need to be addressed.

Firstly, the government needs to ensure that entrepreneurs can register their businesses without any unnecessary bureaucracy while introducing policies that would make credit facilities more functional and accessible. Also, implementing certain reforms within the private sector (venture capital firms) will help to stimulate real capital injection into the economy. 

Despite the rise of unemployment across the continent, many businesses are helping to address this by becoming employers of labour and raising more capital from venture capitalists to expand their businesses.