All You Need To Know About NIRSAL Microfinance Bank Loan
Accessing financial support either in form of a grant or loan is one of the challenges that most SMEs in Nigeria face. Small businesses need financial support for various reasons ranging from raising business capital to expanding it. Typically, if your business has less than 500 employees, it is regarded as an SME. So, if you own an SME you will agree that accessing a loan at any point in time can be the stepping stone your business needs to get into the big league.
Thanks to NIRSAL microfinance, SMEs in Nigeria can now access several loan options to help them start, sustain, and expand their businesses.
A Quick Look At NIRSAL Microfinance Bank
The name NIRSAL is an acronym for Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending. If you look at the full meaning of the name NIRSAL, you may be quick to think that only small agricultural businesses qualify to apply for loans from this microfinance bank. However, that is not entirely true.
NIRSAL is a financial institution that was established in 2019. This microfinance bank has a variety of loan options that SMEs in Nigeria can access to expand their businesses. The best part is that the repayment plan is quite convenient.
NIRSAL Microfinance Bank Loan Options
As stated earlier, NIRSAL has put in place varieties of loaning options to help support and encourage SMEs in Nigeria. Each loaning option has been created to help in meeting varieties of business types and needs.
Here are the NIRSAL loaning options that SMEs in Nigeria can apply for:
1. AGSMEIS Loan
AGSMEIS is an acronym for Agribusiness Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme. The purpose of this loan is to help in promoting agricultural SMEs in Nigeria. It is the federal government’s way of ensuring the small agricultural business have the financial support they need to grow. This loaning option seeks to promote agricultural MSMEs as a vehicle that is crucial to generating employment and developing the economy of the country.
SMEs in Nigeria that has been granted the AGSMEIS loan have a moratorium of about 24 months. The first 18 months moratorium is on the principal loan and the last 6 months moratorium is on the interest. A moratorium simply implies that these SMEs will be given the stipulated time to grow before they begin refunding. This loan option attracts an interest rate of 5% per annum and owners of the businesses are expected to pay up within the space of 7 years.
Businesses that are eligible for the AGSMEIS loan includes;
· Small Agribusinesses
· Petrochemical, mining, and manufacturing businesses
· Creative industry and ICT businesses
2. NIRSAL Micro Loans
The NIRSAL micro loaning option allows students, traders, and entrepreneurs to access repayable financial support for their businesses. With this loan option, SMEs in Nigeria have the opportunity to receive up to N1 million loan. The microloan can only be applied by existing SMEs. This implies that this form of loan is not accessible to people looking to start a business.
The total interest rate on NIRSAL loans depends on the repayment duration. However, you should know that the interest rates on NIRSAL loans is minimal and probably the least you will ever find. This loaning option is aimed at supporting small business owners that have no access to typical financial services like banking. All these types of business owners are often referred to as “unbankable” by large financial institutions.
The micro loaning option is aimed at helping micro-business owners who deal with an incredibly small amount of money each day. Such business owners don’t have credit histories and are not able to meet the traditional requirements of financial institutions.
3. NIRSAL SME Loans
The NIRSAL SME loaning option is aimed at helping SMEs in Nigeria with the financial support they need to either buy fixed assets or as working capital. SME owners that apply for this loan can access a little over N500,000. The repayment tenor is quite comfortable as the NIRSAL microloan allows small business owners to pay off their loans within the space of 2 years.
4. NIRSAL NYIF
The term NYIF is an acronym for Nigerian Youth Investment Fund. It is an idea of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and it is fully funded by CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria). This NIRSAL’s loaning option aims to provide youths the financial support they need to achieve their business ideas and boost job opportunities in the country.
The purpose of the NYIF loaning option is to encourage Nigerian youths to be wealth creators, labour employers, nation development contributors, and entrepreneurs. Hence, the NYIF loaning option is a funding scheme that is created to invest in the talents, skills, and innovative ideas of the youths in the country.
Applicants of the NIRSAL’s NYIF loan must be between the ages of 18 to 35 years. They will also be required to go through a uniquely crafted Entrepreneurship Training Certification Program. Both individuals (also referred to as non-registered businesses) and registered businesses can apply for NIRSAL’s NYIF loan.
Advantages Of NIRSAL Microfinance Bank Loans
There are several reasons why NIRSAL’s microfinance bank loans are perfect for SMEs in Nigeria and here are a few of them:
· Convenient Repayment Plan: NIRSAL microfinance bank loans have one of the most convenient loan repayment plans in the country. Most of their loaning options give business owners sufficient moratorium they need to grow their businesses to a certain extent before refunding.
· Accessing Larger Loans: NIRSAL microfinance bank loans give small business owners access to large loans. Some of their loaning options allow business owners to access loans up to N5 million.
· Amazing Interest Rates: With NIRSAL microfinance bank loans, you don’t have to worry about vindictive interest rates. Their loaning options have one of the lowest interest rates in the country.
Conclusion
NIRSAL microfinance loans provide several loaning options that suit the need of most SMEs in Nigeria. Their interest rates are great and the repayment plan convenient.
