NASSI Accuses Banks of Operating Black Market to Create, Sustain Loans Collaterals

The National Association of Small-Scale Industrialists (NASSI), has accused banks of creating and sustaining black markets for loans collaterals.

Mr. Ifeanyi Oputa, director general of NASSI, speaking at the first National Stakeholders Conference of Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB), themed, “Promoting Synergy between the Banking Industry and the Organized Private Sector”,

held in Lagos, said most of the collaterals accepted by banks for loans are from the black market.

Oputa posited that “To get this black-market collateral you pay 10% or 20% worth of the loan to the owner of the security (collateral), while you pay 25% or 30% to the bank (as interest rate). So, you have lost   45% – 50% of the loan already and the business has not started. The bankers know, if they claim they do not know that is a blatant lie.”

On her part, Edobong Akpabio, chairperson of the Agriculture and Allied Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), also expressed concern over the poor relationship between the banks and the agricultural sector, which she noted is due to lack of understanding of the sector.

The conference was organized to correct perceived misunderstandings between the two sectors and to proffer common grounds that would foster understanding and progress.