How Olaoluwa saved manufacturers, agro processors from collapse
Despite being relieved of his position prematurely, Rasheed Olaoluwa’s legacies in the Bank of Industry (BoI) in his 21 months as chief executive officer cannot be forgotten in a jiffy.
Apart from supporting manufacturers, agro processors and SMEs with financial war chest with which to run their businesses, Olaoluwa ensured that the BoI had a solid financial footing.
On assumption of office on the 19th of May, 2014, after working for Arthur Anderson, FSB, UBA, GT Bank, ARM and UBA Capital, Olaoluwa leveraged his vast experience in the financial sector to address the imbalance caused by commercial banks in the area of financial intermediation for by restating the bank’s commitment to the growth of the real sector.
He developed a five-year strategic plan from 2015-2019 under advice from the international consulting firm of KPMG Professional Services, and subsequently introduced the N5 billion Cottage Agro Processing (CAP) Fund, which has saved many micro processors from going under.
He also unveiled N1 billion Fashion Fund and appointed 122 business development service providers (BDSPs) to facilitate SMEs’ access to loans.
Olaoluwa reduced non-performing loans from 18 per cent to four per cent, improved the bank’s operational efficiency with an upgrade of its system and introduction of mobile applications.
On the day of the announcement of his removal from office, the bank announced over 100 per cent turnover in its profit earnings for the December 31, 2015 financial year, representing a profit after tax of N12 billion and an exceptional income of N37 billion from the disposal of WAMCO shares.
More critical was the fact that the bank, under Olaoluwa, disbursed N83.5billion to 776 enterprises (47 large enterprises and 729 SMEs) in the year, some of which might have struggled without support. Under his watch, BoI created an export fund in association with African Development Bank as well as the Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund, which has seen many youth corps members getting loans for their bankable ideas.
The BoI recorded an unaudited profit before tax of N50.4billion for the year ended December 31, 2015, representing an operating profit of N12billion up by 100 per cent from N6 billion achieved in 2014 and an exceptional income of N37 billion made from the disposal of WAMCO shares.
The bank explained that the loans to large enterprises went to companies in Nigeria’s real sectors such as agro-processing, food processing, solid minerals, gas value-chain, engineering & technology and light manufacturing.
According to the bank, the loans for SMEs were disbursed to companies in the various SME clusters such as fruit juice, cassava processing, fish farming, bakery, furniture, among others, adding that the loans resulted in the creation of over 90,000 jobs in 2015.
“The bank’s operating results are underpinned by strong growth in the bank’s balance sheet, improvement in the bank’s Non-Performing Loan ratio from 18 per cent in May 2014 to four per cent in December 2015, and efficient cost management which saw the growth in operating expenses limited to only 12 per cent in 2015”, a statement from the bank read.
Speaking on the result, Rasheed Olaoluwa said: “I feel very proud of what we achieved in 2015. We made significant developmental impact through the disbursement of over N83billion to nearly one thousand enterprises. We commissioned two of the six rural solar micro grid projects we financed. We introduced many products and programmes to support the SME Ecosystem.
While young, he was a high-flyer; named the best graduating student.
Under his watch, companies such as Innoson, Lafarge Africa, Emzor, Dangote Cement, Peugeot, Rumbu Sacks Nigeria Limited, BAGCO, Tara Agro Industries, ANAMCO, Bendel Feed & Flour Mill, Onward Paper Mills Limited, Ladol Integrated Logistics, Intercontinental Distillers Ltd, Tempo Starch & Glucose Ltd, Coleman Technical Industries Limited, Seven-Up Bottling Co and many others as beneficiaries.