ICT firms’ borrowing rate in Nigeria soars

Loans obtained by Information, Communication and Technology firms from banks in Nigeria, have risen steadily, month on month from N952.06bn in January 2022 to N982.87bn in March 2022.

This is according to data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The CBN sectoral analysis of the credit report shows that the loans were N952.06bn in January, N973.51bn in February, and N982.87bn in March respectively.

This comes after a three-month decline between November 2021 and January 2022.

In January this year, the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, said the banking sector would increase access to finance and credit for households and businesses in 2022.

Emefiele said, “The policy focus of the bank for 2022 is with a pledge to sustain improved access to finance and credit for households and businesses, mobilise investment to boost domestic productivity, enable faster growth of non-oil exports, and support employment generating activities,” he said.

He noted that the country had been able to contain some of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, stressing the need for all stakeholders to work to build a more resilient economy that would be better able to contain external shocks, support growth and create wealth in key sectors of the Nigerian economy.

“Proactive steps on the part of stakeholders in the private sector, in collaboration with the government in supporting the growth of sectors such as manufacturing, ICT, and infrastructure, will strengthen our ability to deal with the challenges of COVID-19, and stimulate further growth of our economy,” he added.

The CBN Governor further disclosed that all necessary approvals had been obtained for the full commencement of the Nigerian Infrastructure Corporation in early 2022 as he spoke on the need to build an efficient infrastructure ecosystem in the country.

In December last year, the Nigerian Communications Commission blamed inadequate ICT infrastructure, cost of deployment and challenge of electricity for the low level of ICT adoption and usage in the rural areas.

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta, in a keynote presentation at the 2021 national conference of the Nigerian Society of Engineers in Abuja, said the commission hoped to see companies boost ICT infrastructure across local government areas in the next five months, adding that the NCC would take stringent regulatory decisions against infrastructure companies if they were unable to meet up to the task of bridging the deficit.