Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has urged stakeholders in the creative industry to take advantage of the Creative Industry Financing Initiative (CIFI) promoted by the Central Bank and the Bankers’ Committee.
According to a circular released yesterday on the apex bank’s website, interested applicants in the creative industry were encouraged to submit applications to their banks for approval and fund disbursement.
The memo also explained that those interested in benefiting from the Creative Industry Financing Initiative must have businesses in any of the following areas:
- Information Technology (IT)
- Fashion
- Movie Production
- Movie Distribution
- Music and
- Software Engineering Student Loan.
The Creative Industry Financing Initiative Loan Plan
Entrepreneurs in the creative industry can get a loan up to:
- N3 million for Software Engineering Student
- N30 million for Movie Production business
- N500 million for Movie Distribution business
- Enough to cover your rental/service fees for people in the Fashion and Information Technology business
- Enough to cover your training fees, equipment fees and rental/service feea for Music business.
Interested creatives are urged to prepare a business plan or statement on how much they want for their businesses. Then go to the bank of their choice to access the loan.
According to CBN, “the commercial bank will discuss your request and provide you the money”. The maximum interest rate is 9% per annum (all charges inclusive) and it is applicable to all loans.
The loan repayment period is stated as follows:
- Software Engineering Student Loan, maximum of 3 years.
- Movie Production and Distribution, Fashion, Information Technology (IT) and Music; maximum of 10 years respectively.
How Does This Act Affect Entrepreneurs And The Economy?
This decision by the bank and the bankers’ committee to stimulate these sectors through special funding is a bold step to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship among Nigerian youths while creating the atmosphere for national development. This will reduce the level of unemployment in Nigeria, and improve capacity building.
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2 responses
When is the cifi starting?
Hello Amadi,
This has already started. You can get information from CBN website or walk into any of the banks that they have the partnerships with and enquire. Goodluck.