Manufacturing companies have said they cannot access loans at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s five per cent lending rate under its intervention scheme for manufacturing and other critical sectors. According to them, the loans have structural framework problems and are almost never accessed in banks at five per cent. They added that banks were more open to giving manufacturers loans at their official market rates. Speaking with The PUNCH, the Chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria’s Electrical/Electronic sectoral group, Mrs Ijeoma Oduonye, said efforts made by her firm towards accessing the intervention funds through one of its designated commercial banks had proved abortive. She said, “Before now, we tried to work through one of the banks, but it didn’t materialise, now we are talking with another bank. It is a sector intervention fund that was going for nine per cent before but now they brought it to five per cent. But we as a company have not accessed it because the commercial banks we wanted to process it in could not process it. “I do not understand the details from their end. I don’t know the regulation between the bank and the CBN. But the bank told my firm they won’t be able to process it. Ordinarily, commercial banks would prefer you use their funds, it is at a higher interest rate.” Also, according to the Sectoral Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria’s Gas users and the Executive Director of Haffar Industries, Michael Ola-Adebayo, the structural framework of the CBN intervention leading has complexities that limit manufacturers from accessing them through the designated commercial banks. He said, “We have not been getting the loans. Has any manufacturer been borrowing this money? The commercial banks have not provided the facility to borrow money at five per cent, or even 10 per cent. According to a The PUNCH report, the CBN agreed to leave interest rates at five per cent per annum for critical sectors and manufacturing industries until March 2023. This decision followed the resolution of the Monetary Policy Committee to increase the benchmark interest rate to 13 per cent from 11.5 per cent. When contacted, the Director of Corporate Communicatios, CBN, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, disagreed with the position of the manufacturers. Read Also CBN’s rate hike portends harder times for SMEs We’ll no longer route sensitive election materials through CBN – INEC Bank customers to produce indemnity for online transfers above N1m – CBN According to him, more than N1tn has been disbursed under the intervention scheme for the manufacturing sector and others. He said, “I don’t know who the manufacturers are, because if we have a fund, and the payout as of today is over N1tn, is it not manufacturers that collected this money? “If over N1tn has been disbursed, are they ghosts? It couldn’t have been a ghost. Under the Differentiated Cash Reserve Requirement, over N1tn has been given out. The one for manufacturers, we call it the DCCR, and it is also at five per cent.” Nwanisobi added that the manufacturing firms that might have been unable to obtain funds through the scheme were not able to pitch convincing proposals on the projects that the funds would be used for. He stated, “The banks would have to do due diligence on those projects. Somebody else has to carry that credit risk.”

How to Report your Bank when Displeased – CBN

Jan 31, 2022

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The Central Bank of Nigeria has released a guide for bank customers and others on how and where they can lodge complaints against financial institutions regulated by it.

The financial institutions include commercial banks, microfinance banks, primary mortgage institutions, and discount houses.

The CBN noted that it had earlier issued a circular directing all banks to expand their existing ATM help desks to handle all types of consumer complaints.

“Therefore, if you have a complaint against your bank, you must first report the complaint at the bank/branch where the issue originated and then allow two weeks (it might be less or more in some cases) for the issues to be resolved,” it said.

According to the apex bank, the customer has the right to escalate the complaint to the Director, Consumer Protection Department of the CBN after lodging a complaint, when the bank fails to acknowledge within three days or issue a tracking number, or fails to resolve the complaint within the timelines as stipulated by the Consumer Protection Regulation.

The CBN said, “You can only direct your complaints to CPD upon the failure of your bank/financial institution to resolve your complaint within the timeline stipulated by the Consumer Protection Regulation.

“You can contact the CPD through the following channels: Consumer Protection Department, Garki, Abuja. Your letter of complaint should be addressed to the Director, Consumer Protection Department. You can submit your letter at the CBN Head Office or at any of the CBN branches nationwide.”

Bank Customer

How to Report your Bank when Displeased – CBN

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