Nigeria’s credit guarantee scheme backs N64.13bn in loans across all states

Nigeria’s National Credit Guarantee Company has backed N64.13 billion in loans to 174,495 borrowers across the country, according to figures presented by its managing director, Bonaventure Okhaimo, at a briefing in Abuja on Tuesday. The figures, drawn from the company’s performance report as of 21 October, cover borrowers in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Okhaimo said the lending was facilitated through 19 participating financial institutions, including commercial banks, microfinance banks and development finance institutions.

The company deployed N30.19 billion in credit guarantees to support the loans, Premium Times reported. Punch Nigeria said each naira of guarantee unlocked approximately N2.12 in lending. The two reports describe the scheme as a risk-sharing mechanism rather than a direct lending programme.

Okhaimo said the NCGC guarantees part of a loan made by an approved financial institution and shares losses if an eligible borrower defaults. Under the standard framework, Premium Times reported, the guarantee can cover as much as 60 per cent of a loan exposure. The arrangement is intended to help lenders finance businesses and individuals who might otherwise be rejected because they lack conventional collateral.

Women represented 42.7 per cent of the beneficiaries, while 7,731 people were recorded under youth empowerment programmes. Premium Times described 22,616 beneficiaries as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises accessing formal finance for the first time. Punch reported the same number as first-time users of formal finance, without specifically identifying all of them as MSMEs.

Trade and commerce, together with agribusiness and agro-processing, accounted for slightly more than 80 per cent of beneficiaries, according to Punch. The supported lending was associated with an estimated 914,791 jobs: 175,481 direct positions and 739,310 indirect jobs, the reports said. Those figures were presented as estimates linked to the borrowers rather than as independently verified employment totals.

Okhaimo also outlined GuaranteeHer, a gender-responsive guarantee framework launched on 29 July and formally unveiled at a stakeholders’ forum on 3 September. It builds on existing women-focused bank programmes rather than creating a separate lending product. Under the initiative, coverage can rise to 70 per cent of eligible exposure, with a maximum guarantee obligation of N50 million per borrower.

Premium Times reported that GuaranteeHer is intended to support more than N100 billion in lending over five years, reach at least 20,000 women-owned enterprises and generate more than 150,000 jobs. The NCGC has also launched a Credit Advantage Series to improve MSMEs’ understanding of financial records, credit requirements and loan management. The company began operations with N100 billion in capital provided equally by the Bank of Industry, Ministry of Finance Incorporated, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation.

Okhaimo said its capital base could support a guarantee portfolio of up to N1 trillion under the company’s leverage framework.