Nigeria’s Access Bank Gets $295 Million to Help Small Firms

By Emele Onu

July 16, 2024 at 11:56AM EDT

Customers queue to withdraw newly-designed Nigerian naira banknotes at an automatic teller machine (ATM) outside an Access Bank Plc bank branch in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele has defended his decision to replace 2.7 trillion naira ($5.85 billion) of cash outside the banking system even as scenes of chaos have unfolded all over Nigeria, where the vast majority of transactions are still done in cash. Photographer: Benson Ibeabuchi/Bloomberg (Benson Ibeabuchi/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Access Bank Plc, Nigeria’s biggest lender by assets, signed a $295 million syndicated loan from foreign lenders to support small businesses that are battling high cost of borrowing and accelerating inflation.

Dutch development bank FMO led other lenders including British International Investment, Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, and funds in Canada, Finland, Norway and Sweden, among others to raise the funds, Access Bank said in emailed statement.

The money will “empower local small- and medium-sized enterprises, with a particular focus on underserved segments such as youth and women-owned businesses, agricultural enterprises, and very small enterprises,” Access Bank said.

Access to funds and the cost to get them are among the top challenges faced by small businesses in Nigeria’s increasingly difficult operating environment. Small borrowers are accessing commercial loans at 28.67%, according to central bank data.