Assisting First City Monument Bank Limited with its support to Nigerian SMEs

First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) is a commercial bank headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. It was founded in 1977 as a brokerage company prior to obtaining a banking license in 1983. The bank provides a wide range of banking and financial services through its six main business segments: Personal banking, Institutional banking, SME banking, Commercial banking, Corporate banking, and Treasury and Financial Markets. The bank has a strategy to support SMEs in Nigeria and a high drive for growth in this segment, primarily targeting emerging high-impact sectors with strong growth potential (for example, the agriculture sector and financing for women-owned businesses).

The project involves the renewal of a EURIZ portfolio guarantee with €6 million to cover an €8.5 million portfolio and will support the bank’s activity geared towards Nigerian SMEs in high-impact sectors (including women-owned businesses, education and health). The project will enable FCMB to strengthen its position in its medium- and long-term lending activities for its SME clients.  

The EURIZ guarantee benefits from the support of the European Union and the OACPS.

The ARIZ and EURIZ portfolio guarantees (PGs) provided to FCMB will contribute to promoting entrepreneurship and supporting MSME financing in Nigeria. Number of jobs created or maintained: 3,176 jobs maintained and 1 job created; Accessibility: N/A; Tons of CO2 avoided: N/A; Start-ups and MSMEs: 352 SMEs