(Ecofin Agency) - The Bank of Industry (BoI) has included authorization from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in its conditions for the approval of loan requests by manufacturers of drugs, pharmaceuticals, and food products in Nigeria.

This new condition according to the bank, is to ensure that food and drugs produced in the country meet international standards and that the Small and Medium Enterprises producing them have the financial support they want.

“Those who produce foods must receive NAFDAC certification and endorsement before they can access credit. The importance of this is that if you don’t have a NAFDAC number, you cannot sell your products in the open market. Unless we are able to establish that you can sell your products when they are produced, we will not grant you loan, because it is only when you sell that the cash flow projection on which loan repayment is predicated can be actualized or realized,” Waheed Olagunju (photo), Acting Managing Director, BoI said.

He added that though it is important for clients of the bank to be endorsed by NAFDAC, manufacturers who are not customers but have NAFDAC numbers can also access loans from the BoI.

Anita Fatunji