National credit company backs N64.13bn loans to over 174,000 borrowers

The National Credit Guarantee Company Limited on Tuesday in Abuja said it has backed N64.13bn in loans to 174,495 borrowers across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, using N30.19bn in guarantee value since it began operations last year.

The company’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Dr Bonaventure Okhaimo, disclosed this while briefing the State House correspondents in Abuja on NCGC’s first year of operations.

Okhaimo said the figures, drawn from NCGC’s programme performance report as of October 21, showed every N1 of guarantee had unlocked about N2.12 in loans through 19 participating financial institutions comprising commercial banks, microfinance banks and development finance institutions.

He explained, “We provide partial guarantees that de-risk lending, expand the supply of credit and catalyse economic growth. We do not lend directly.

“When one of our Participating Financial Institutions lends to an eligible borrower, we guarantee part of the loan and share the loss if the borrower cannot repay.

“This allows lenders to say yes to borrowers they would otherwise turn away, often with less collateral and on better terms.”

He said 74,503 of the borrowers, or 42.7 per cent, were women, while 22,616, representing 12.96 per cent, accessed formal finance for the first time.

Another 7,731 borrowers were recorded under youth empowerment.

Trade and commerce, alongside agribusiness and agro-processing, accounted for just over 80 per cent of beneficiaries.

“Our PFIs reported 175,481 direct jobs associated with the borrowers we support, and our report estimates a further 739,310 indirect jobs, bringing total jobs impacted to 914,791,” Okhaimo stated.

Okhaimo also revealed that the NCGC launched GuaranteeHer, a blended-finance, gender-responsive credit guarantee framework, on July 29, with the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, as special guest.

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It was formally unveiled at the company’s first anniversary stakeholders’ forum on September 3.

He explained that rather than create a new product, GuaranteeHer strengthens existing women-focused lending programmes such as Access Bank’s W Initiative, FirstBank’s FirstGem, FCMB’s SheVentures, Sterling’s Smart Women and Fidelity’s FundHer, by layering on a guarantee that allows lenders to offer lower interest rates, less collateral and longer tenors.

“Rather than create yet another product, we strengthen the programmes women already know, so lenders can offer lower interest rates, less collateral and longer tenors,” the MD stated.

He said GuaranteeHer, in five years, will target over N100bn in mobilised lending, financing for more than 20,000 women-owned MSMEs, and support for over 150,000 direct and indirect jobs, with guarantee coverage of up to 70 per cent of eligible loan exposure and a maximum obligor limit of N50m per borrower.

Okhaimo said NCGC had signed memoranda of understanding with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria on financial literacy and capacity building.

It had also signed another with the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation on risk-sharing to expand consumer credit, in addition to partnering with the Bank of Industry, NAICOM, NDIC, the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, NIRSAL and AGRA.

He said the company also works with the World Bank Group on technical assistance and first-loss capital, and that its next Credit Advantage Series session, scheduled for October 28, would feature the Nigeria Revenue Service.

He thanked President Bola Tinubu “for his vision in establishing NCGC,” and said the company’s goal was that “no viable Nigerian business should be denied credit simply because it lacks collateral.”

NCGC was incorporated in May 2025 with Tinubu’s approval and licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria in August 2025. It has a N100bn capital base held in equal 25 per cent shares by the Bank of Industry, the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation, CREDICORP.

Vice President Kashim Shettima inaugurated its board in July 2025, describing the company as central to unlocking financing for Nigeria’s micro, small and medium enterprises, which have long struggled to meet collateral requirements at commercial banks.