PRESS RELEASE

USAID Launches Financing For Mortgage and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises with Two Nigerian Ban

October 27th, 2006 

On Friday, October 27th, 2006, the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador John Campbell will launch a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Zenith Bank Plc $10million mortgage scheme.  The scheme is specially targeted at the middle and low income earners in Nigeria. The mortgage finance Development Credit Authority- DCA (DCA is a USAID development credit authority program) Guarantee with Zenith Bank will provide medium/long term mortgage loans to Nigerians to purchase primary residence in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt areas. With this partnership, Zenith Bank will provide mortgage loans for individuals to purchase homes costing a maximum of N10million.  Home ownership creates wealth and employment and reduces restiveness and poverty thereby improving the livelihoods of and empowering the targeted Nigerians.
 
Also on the same day, Ambassador Campbell will launch a USAID and Fidelity Bank Nigeria $5 million project and Micro Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSME) finance scheme. The MSME finance DCA with Fidelity Bank will provide long term credit to Nigerian MSMEs (agro and non agro) for business start-ups, investment and working capital. The focus areas are the Niger Delta and Northern regions and Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.

Ambassador John Campbell will host the program which will be attended by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Nenadi E. Usman, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko,  Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Charles C. Soludo, Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Yakubu Tanimu, Executive Director of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mrs. Modupe Adelaja,  Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank Mr. Jim Ovia, Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi, Director of USAID Mr. Patrick Fleuret and other private sector leaders.

With these partnerships, USAID, Zenith and Fidelity bank will be contributing to the development objective of improving livelihoods through home ownership, increased incomes and employment. The projects partially demonstrate the deepening of the Nigerian financial sector and the benefit of the banking reform agenda in Nigeria and hopefully will stimulate further lending to the real sector of the economy. USAID has been working in Nigeria since the 1960s and provides $80-100 million annually in development assistance to Nigeria in the areas of democracy and governance, agricultural development and economic growth, basic education, reproductive health and child survival, and HIV/AIDS.

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