traeces:


Whatever the proposal/business feasibility I submitted, it was reviewed by various staff of the bank at different levels and judged feasible before my application got approved so I don't see how a presentation of my business plan to you changes anything

Thank God you didn't fall for that nonsense talk.
What does this man's proposal have to do with anything.
Think!!!!! Nigeria is in infancy!!!!!
Many things will work if we want to work them.
You don't need to steal the OP's idea, think yours out!!!!!

As a staff of the Bank, I can assure you that if indeed you've been dealing with the Bank all you need to get this issue resolved is a call to the customer care unit. No staff of the Bank is allowed to collect a penny from you until you accept the offer letter. Kindly drop your complaint with the customer unit 07002255264/customercare@boi.ng

sholatech:
This is interesting for us all to learn. Been greatly recommending them based on their TV shows but these emerging facts point to many unknown challenges.

I'm astonished reading what the OP wrote up there in comparison to their TV programme, I now believe the saying that "all that glitters ain't gold". . perhaps they use the programme to deceive Nigerians . This is unbelievable and quite discouraging to upcoming entrepreneurs

Henrysat:
As a staff of the Bank, I can assure you that if indeed you've been dealing with the Bank all you need to get this issue resolved is a call to the customer care unit. No staff of the Bank is allowed to collect a penny from you until you accept the offer letter. Kindly drop your complaint with the customer unit 07002255264/customercare@boi.ng

Are you suggesting that the 1% non-REFUNDABLE payment isn't official? Please I want an answer to this question. Thanks.

I created a thread about similar experience this morning

https://www.nairaland.com/4370560/perils-nigerian-youths-unemployment-did

Buhaphobia

I know for certain that the payment is official and BOI is knowingly collecting these funds when they don't intend to fund the equipment or supplies needed by those businesses applying.
I am particularly interested in this subject because I see people in government and I see that no one cares about Nigeria and we are a nation of great people and wasted potentials. Very GREAT waste I tell you.

edoman2016:

Is your business a start-up or existing business? And what is your business into?

Existing
Agriculture

DrUche3:

It's better to read the post well.

Thank you sir

higherpower:
OP, Please can I speak to you on phone?

Provide your number and I will call you or state the agenda and I could provide an email

I had the same experience but had to withdraw when they requested for my original university certificate amongst other documents for just a loan of 2m.

I

higherpower:


A bank whose duty is to help turned around to put outrageous measures and u call that conditions? In my own case, they kept turning me up-and-down. First they said my collateral didn't have CofO. Later they asked me to get 2 external guarantors of Dr, Bar or level 12 civil servants. When I got them, they now said they must have net worth of the amount I applied for. How can young graduates who just started working n wants to assist have such net worth property?

I scaled all the above conditions. What was pending was the 10% security which was to be paid after verification of my suppliers. That verification is yet to be complete months after the letter lapsed.

tunjibadosnen:
govt loans are like that, they pay in kind for all materials needed by you rather than giving you the money in cash, so if you have inflated cost of materials in your quotation thinking they will give you the cash you're on your own

To be clear, I have no issues with this at all

Henrysat:
As a staff of the Bank, I can assure you that if indeed you've been dealing with the Bank all you need to get this issue resolved is a call to the customer care unit. No staff of the Bank is allowed to collect a penny from you until you accept the offer letter. Kindly drop your complaint with the customer unit 07002255264/customercare@boi.ng

Thank you but you should I contacted these same contacts and they referred me back to my loan officer

How many people have run away with government money given as loans ? Bank of industry does not give cash - they only purchase equipment and they have to do a rigorous know your customer process if not - boys will just be drinking peppersoup with government money ! We are all complaining as if we don’t know how fraudulent we Nigerian s are !

traeces:
I apologize for the length of this story which is an illustration of the lip service our government has been paying to the encouragement of agriculture and private enterprise in Nigeria.

MY APPLICATION
In July, 2017, I submitted an application for a loan of five million, nine hundred and two thousand naira only (N5, 902, 000.00) at the Makurdi, Benue state branch of Bank of Industry. At the initial stage, I was very impressed by what I thought was the professionalism demonstrated by staff of the bank. I got a call on the 31st August 2017 notifying me of the approval of my loan. You can only imagine how delighted I was at the prospect of such a lifeline to my business considering the loan had a tenor of 3 years, moratorium of six months and purported interest of less than 10% per annum and given that my loan officer gave me the impression that now that the loan had been approved, disbursement was going to be a matter of days or weeks at the most.

I was therefore very surprised to say the least when 2 months down the line, I was yet to receive an offer letter under the pretext that searches were been carried out on my person and on my business. I patiently waited while inundating Bank of Industry Makurdi office with calls and visits. It was not until early November, 2017 that I received a call informing me that the searches came clean and my offer letter was now ready. I went to the office and asked to receive my letter but to my surprise, I was asked to pay a non refundable fee of 1% of the amount approved for me before I could even view the letter. This part sounded almost criminal to me, why won’t I see the terms governing the purported offer before committing resources I did not have? They told me it was the norm and that there was no other way so I went ahead to pay the sum of Fifty Two Thousand Naira (N52, 000.00) being 1% of the sum approved. See receipt of the payment attached.

Thereafter, I received a 6-paged offer letter in which I found ridiculous terms that made me wonder why a government agency whose objective was the encouragement of entrepreneurship could be that devious and self interested. See some details:

1.) The approved loan amount was five million, one hundred and ninety four thousand, three hundred and twenty two naira (N5, 194,322.00). A good percentage of this approved sum was for fees and charges which did not add any direct value to my business and which were at the exclusive discretion of the bank.
2.) The source was FGN (NEDEP) fund.
3.) It was to be discharged towards the procurement of items of equipment and raw material for my business. In other words, I was not supposed to get a kobo in cash, my suppliers were meant to get payment after they had supplied the materials I required.
4.) I also found in addition to other 8 conditions all of which I had met that I was meant to pay another security arrangement of 10% of the approved loan amount being Five hundred and nineteen thousand, four hundred and thirty two naira twenty kobo (N519,432.20)
5.) No legal action could be instituted howsoever instigated and/or sustained by my company against Bank of Industry jointly or severally without first giving BOI a ninety (90) day prior written pre-action notice of my company’s intention to so proceed against Bank of Industry.
6.) Bank of Industry’s ability to accommodate this facility within its legal lending limits was subject to availability of funds. This left me wondering why the bank will approve my application, collect a non refundable fee of 1% of the approved amount without first determining funds’ availability.
7.) The mother of all frauds in the offer letter was that if the loan was not disbursed within 2 months from the date of the letter of offer (31st October, 2017), the Bank of Industry without any consideration of why it was not disbursed reserved the right to review the terms and conditions of offer but if the loan was not disbursed within 3 months from the date of the letter of offer, the letter lapses and all expenses incurred by the bank shall be repaid by my company.
8.) If the offer letter contained unfriendly terms, you can only imagine what the 20 paged loan agreement proper contained. On the whole, the terms of the loan agreement was such that the bank was more than 100% covered while I and my 2 guarantors were made to bear all the risks and every legal obligation/responsibility.

This was the greatest source of my fear as it all meant that the bank could afford the highest form of irresponsibility and recklessness as far as the loan and its disbursement was concerned and not face any consequence whatsoever. However, not only did I need the loan, at this point I had invested so much resource in money, time and energy that I felt the need to see it all through. So I stayed interested nonetheless.

{To be cond} Meanwhile, feel free to share this story or post any similar experience you have had with BOI or any other government agency.

so 50k don waka be dat

* concluding part of my post

POST OFFER LETTER EVENTS
Following the receipt of the offer letter, I was made to write and submit a letter of loan acceptance, a letter of undertaking to pay interest during moratorium and a letter of attestation from my solicitors indicating that I understood everything I had signed and accented to. I was made to sign several copies of a 20 paged loan agreement and to resubmit forms to my guarantors to sign and submit and also swear affidavits in court. All of these we did and submitted before the 6th of November, 2017.
I then inquired to know how events were to proceed there from. I was told my four suppliers in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Lagos will be verified, thereafter I will be required to pay the 10% deposit and then the suppliers will get letters of credit to supply. I raised the need for all these to happen before December, 31st 2017 as it would position my business advantageously in the market place and they gave me all the assurances that they will make that happen and asked me to go and try to raise the 10% security so I could pay once the account was opened in BOI MFB. I said even though that was going to be a problem as I had no prior knowledge, I was going to try and even borrow at interest if I had to but since that was meant to happen after they had finished verifying my suppliers, the onus was on BOI to do the verifications first, then I will be provided bank details into which to pay the 10% security. That was how we parted that 6th November, 2017.
All through December, 2017, I was in touch with my suppliers some of whom had done repeat business with BOI in the past but who expressed so much unwillingness to deal on BOI’s terms and it was so difficult for me to understand why anyone will so distrust a government agency that much. Now I know better. I was worried that throughout December, 2017, not a single one of my suppliers had been contacted nor verified and I kept contacting BOI’s office and reminding them of the lapsing timeframe but nothing I heard showed any commitment. At some point, I wondered if Bank of Industry was not a government ploy to get struggling and already disadvantaged entrepreneurs like me who provided their own road, electricity, water, etc to part with money they did not have in the guise of nonrefundable fees. Because it looked as if the bank’s interest and sole mandate was getting me to pay that Fifty Two Thousand Naira (N52, 000.00) non refundable fee which they had succeeded at and which was why nobody was doing anything anymore now that the money had been paid.
That was how 1 month, 2 months and 3 months elapsed with some of my suppliers still not contacted nor verified. Up until this moment, the bank has not felt the need to reach me about anything after all, I can’t sue the bank neither has the bank lost anything. If anything, it has gained my Fifty Two Thousand Naira (N52, 000.00) non refundable fee. The ultimate loser here is poor me and I can go to hell for all the bank cares. This is my experience with Nigeria’s Bank of Industry and I hope you take it into consideration when next you consider taking the government of Nigeria or any of her agencies serious.

Maybe mine happened by miracle, or perhaps it was too small. on the 15th of dec, 2017 BOI paid the sum of fifty thousand naira (50,000) into my account and ever since, they have been sending warning messages. threatening to block my BVN and it's associates. my question is 1. has anybody successfully taken a loan from them? and what if its not paid back? i heard some men say they won't repay. what are the penalties. thanks

thinktanke:
Hmmmm
OP unfortunately that organization is just a fraud. A friend of mine had a similar experience with them. He is a business man who had grown his company from scratch and thought he could expand to fulfill his dreams with the BOI only to lose about 3Million naira to them plus a lot of time wasted and funds expended flying on a regular basis for several months between Abuja and Lagos to the headquarters of his bankers to fulfill some purposely inserted impossible clauses in the terms for the loan.
You can imagine they asked him to pay that NON-REFUNDABLE deposit even when they knew they were not going to give him the facility. If not for God and his tenacity to move on. The guy for done go village!!!!
BOI is just a fraud!!!!
Sad situation in Nigeria where institutions that should support entrepreneurs just frustrate and sabotage them. Worse yet steal from them!!!.

why do ppl never learn that govt is never your friend

san316:
horrible. really horrible

This has nothing to do with government or bigotry as the first poster is trying to adduce. it is an institutional problem, common with present day banks be it commercial or micro-finance.


May God help us though.

yet they are all regulated by govt?
govt is responsible

rafcrown:
IT IS EASIER TO GET A PERSONAL LOAN OF 10M naira abroad (for wedding,home improvement ,buying car,etc)than to get a loan of 7m naira for industrial/business purposes in Nigeria.

Biggest boss, how far na? Long time

thinktanke:
Hmmmm
OP unfortunately that organization is just a fraud. A friend of mine had a similar experience with them. He is a business man who had grown his company from scratch and thought he could expand to fulfill his dreams with the BOI only to lose about 3Million naira to them plus a lot of time wasted and funds expended flying on a regular basis for several months between Abuja and Lagos to the headquarters of his bankers to fulfill some purposely inserted impossible clauses in the terms for the loan.
You can imagine they asked him to pay that NON-REFUNDABLE deposit even when they knew they were not going to give him the facility. If not for God and his tenacity to move on. The guy for done go village!!!!
BOI is just a fraud!!!!
Sad situation in Nigeria where institutions that should support entrepreneurs just frustrate and sabotage them. Worse yet steal from them!!!.

I am very happy that I am getting reviews like these.

Thanks to all those who are sharing their stories.

And you could not imagine that I was considering to enlist the assistance of this so called fraudulent Bank of Industry in the future.

Shame on the Nigerian govt.

AlfaSeltzer:
Op you mumu o. So you paid 50K just to see a letter?

You can easily say this cos you were not in his shoes.
I have been in his shoes before. He was desperate to get to the end of all these procedures.

musicwriter:
A government charging N52,000 upfront to give loan to someone looking for loan? Any difference between what yahoo boys do?

Abeg no difference oo.
Yahoo started from the govt.

traeces:
I apologize for the length of this story which is an illustration of the lip service our government has been paying to the encouragement of agriculture and private enterprise in Nigeria.

MY APPLICATION
In July, 2017, I submitted an application for a loan of five million, nine hundred and two thousand naira only (N5, 902, 000.00) at the Makurdi, Benue state branch of Bank of Industry. At the initial stage, I was very impressed by what I thought was the professionalism demonstrated by staff of the bank. I got a call on the 31st August 2017 notifying me of the approval of my loan. You can only imagine how delighted I was at the prospect of such a lifeline to my business considering the loan had a tenor of 3 years, moratorium of six months and purported interest of less than 10% per annum and given that my loan officer gave me the impression that now that the loan had been approved, disbursement was going to be a matter of days or weeks at the most.

Mine was CBN-Sterling Bank YEDP Programme.
Loan of 3 million naira was cut to 2 million naira. This was besides my pledge to contribute 1 million naira to the project of 4 million naira.
Moratorium period was cut from 3 months to 2 months.
Money was to be paid to equipment suppliers after the purchase which could be difficult to achieve with the suppliers.
Initially, I was to submit my degree and NYSC certificates to the bank pending the time I would pay off the loan. But when the offer letters and agreement documents were sent to me, they changed everything completely. My guarantors would submit the documents of their properties and all their account numbers alongside my certificates.
I didn't even bother to go to my guarantors or contact my account officer again. Dead end.
If anyone is interested in viewing the documents, I can send it.
All the money I spent up to that stage just wasted like that. Including tips given to inspection officer.

traeces:
* concluding part of my post

POST OFFER LETTER EVENTS
Following the receipt of the offer letter, I was made to write and submit a letter of loan acceptance, a letter of undertaking to pay interest during moratorium and a letter of attestation from my solicitors indicating that I understood everything I had signed and accented to. I was made to sign several copies of a 20 paged loan agreement and to resubmit forms to my guarantors to sign and submit and also swear affidavits in court. All of these we did and submitted before the 6th of November, 2017.
I then inquired to know how events were to proceed there from. I was told my four suppliers in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Lagos will be verified, thereafter I will be required to pay the 10% deposit and then the suppliers will get letters of credit to supply. I raised the need for all these to happen before December, 31st 2017 as it would position my business advantageously in the market place and they gave me all the assurances that they will make that happen and asked me to go and try to raise the 10% security so I could pay once the account was opened in BOI MFB. I said even though that was going to be a problem as I had no prior knowledge, I was going to try and even borrow at interest if I had to but since that was meant to happen after they had finished verifying my suppliers, the onus was on BOI to do the verifications first, then I will be provided bank details into which to pay the 10% security. That was how we parted that 6th November, 2017.
All through December, 2017, I was in touch with my suppliers some of whom had done repeat business with BOI in the past but who expressed so much unwillingness to deal on BOI’s terms and it was so difficult for me to understand why anyone will so distrust a government agency that much. Now I know better. I was worried that throughout December, 2017, not a single one of my suppliers had been contacted nor verified and I kept contacting BOI’s office and reminding them of the lapsing timeframe but nothing I heard showed any commitment. At some point, I wondered if Bank of Industry was not a government ploy to get struggling and already disadvantaged entrepreneurs like me who provided their own road, electricity, water, etc to part with money they did not have in the guise of nonrefundable fees. Because it looked as if the bank’s interest and sole mandate was getting me to pay that Fifty Two Thousand Naira (N52, 000.00) non refundable fee which they had succeeded at and which was why nobody was doing anything anymore now that the money had been paid.
That was how 1 month, 2 months and 3 months elapsed with some of my suppliers still not contacted nor verified. Up until this moment, the bank has not felt the need to reach me about anything after all, I can’t sue the bank neither has the bank lost anything. If anything, it has gained my Fifty Two Thousand Naira (N52, 000.00) non refundable fee. The ultimate loser here is poor me and I can go to hell for all the bank cares. This is my experience with Nigeria’s Bank of Industry and I hope you take it into consideration when next you consider taking the government of Nigeria or any of her agencies serious.

Don't worry bro. God will replenish whatever it seems you must have lost in these procedures. It's so frustrating after spending all your time, efforts and hopes and it ends up like this.
Kudos for taking your time to share your experiences with us, at least, none of us will fall for this in the future after reading this.

I have had a previous experience like yours, albeit with a micro-finance bank. It was so terrible that these people wasted my 6 months of constantly transporting from their head to branch offices, providing all the necessary documents, providing guarantors etc, all to no avail. It was always from one story to another. At last, I just gave up on them.

I strongly believe we will get to the top one way or another and all these terrible experiences will be stories for us to tell our younger generations of how we overcame in spite of all the oppositions.

muzzol:
OP, first of all, everybody knows that BOI does not give money to investees, rather they do asset financing, so your outcry shows that you didn't investigate the conditions attached to the facility before applying....secondly, all what you wrote as callous acts from BOI are well stated in their website as conditions precedent to accessing their facilities, so if anyone is to be blamed, i think it should be you, who did not investigate or ask your financial advisor before applying for a facility. Moreover sir, as someone suggested above, i think it is important you share with us what you proposed to BOI in your business plan and the pre-application form you filled. Next time sir, involve your financial advisor (a professional) in issues involving financing of your business.......a poster above did an intelligent thing by seeking for angel investors to finance his start-up......the truth is that nobody anywhere in the world will give you money to kick-start a project without you bearing the risks....you shouldnt expect BOI to give you their money and still bear all the risks (which risk can be more than their money they gave you?)

Kindly show us screenshot of it from their website.

Johnnycife:
Maybe mine happened by miracle, or perhaps it was too small. on the 15th of dec, 2017 BOI paid the sum of fifty thousand naira (50,000) into my account and ever since, they have been sending warning messages. threatening to block my BVN and it's associates. my question is 1. has anybody successfully taken a loan from them? and what if its not paid back? i heard some men say they won't repay. what are the penalties. thanks

Why this question now? Go and pay back your loan. Simple.

Nowenuse:



Don't worry bro. God will replenish whatever it seems you must have lost in these procedures. It's so frustrating after spending all your time, efforts and hopes and it ends up like this.
Kudos for taking your time to share your experiences with us, at least, none of us will fall for this in the future after reading this.

I have had a previous experience like yours, albeit with a micro-finance bank. It was so terrible that these people wasted my 6 months of constantly transporting from their head to branch offices, providing all the necessary documents, providing guarantors etc, all to no avail. It was always from one story to another. At last, I just gave up on them.

I strongly believe we will get to the top one way or another and all these terrible experiences will be stories for us to tell our younger generations of how we overcame in spite of all the oppositions.

Thank you very much

While I have no plans as of this moment to take legal action, I plan to share my experience on every platform and hope Nigerians broadcast it until everyone knows what fraud BOI and by extension the federal government of Nigeria is.

maasoap:


Mine was CBN-Sterling Bank YEDP Programme.
Loan of 3 million naira was cut to 2 million naira. This was besides my pledge to contribute 1 million naira to the project of 4 million naira.
Moratorium period was cut from 3 months to 2 months.
Money was to be paid to equipment suppliers after the purchase which could be difficult to achieve with the suppliers.
Initially, I was to submit my degree and NYSC certificates to the bank pending the time I would pay off the loan. But when the offer letters and agreement documents were sent to me, they changed everything completely. My guarantors would submit the documents of their properties and all their account numbers alongside my certificates.
I didn't even bother to go to my guarantors or contact my account officer again. Dead end.
If anyone is interested in viewing the documents, I can send it.
All the money I spent up to that stage just wasted like that. Including tips given to inspection officer.

Now, if this is reality it is a sad situation. This is how initiative is killed in Africa!!! But you must encourage yourself and make a move somehow don't let those devils kill your dream!!!

traeces:
* concluding part of my post

POST OFFER LETTER EVENTS
Following the receipt of the offer letter, I was made to write and submit a letter of loan acceptance, a letter of undertaking to pay interest during moratorium and a letter of attestation from my solicitors indicating that I understood everything I had signed and accented to. I was made to sign several copies of a 20 paged loan agreement and to resubmit forms to my guarantors to sign and submit and also swear affidavits in court. All of these we did and submitted before the 6th of November, 2017.
I then inquired to know how events were to proceed there from. I was told my four suppliers in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Lagos will be verified, thereafter I will be required to pay the 10% deposit and then the suppliers will get letters of credit to supply. I raised the need for all these to happen before December, 31st 2017 as it would position my business advantageously in the market place and they gave me all the assurances that they will make that happen and asked me to go and try to raise the 10% security so I could pay once the account was opened in BOI MFB. I said even though that was going to be a problem as I had no prior knowledge, I was going to try and even borrow at interest if I had to but since that was meant to happen after they had finished verifying my suppliers, the onus was on BOI to do the verifications first, then I will be provided bank details into which to pay the 10% security. That was how we parted that 6th November, 2017.
All through December, 2017, I was in touch with my suppliers some of whom had done repeat business with BOI in the past but who expressed so much unwillingness to deal on BOI’s terms and it was so difficult for me to understand why anyone will so distrust a government agency that much. Now I know better. I was worried that throughout December, 2017, not a single one of my suppliers had been contacted nor verified and I kept contacting BOI’s office and reminding them of the lapsing timeframe but nothing I heard showed any commitment. At some point, I wondered if Bank of Industry was not a government ploy to get struggling and already disadvantaged entrepreneurs like me who provided their own road, electricity, water, etc to part with money they did not have in the guise of nonrefundable fees. Because it looked as if the bank’s interest and sole mandate was getting me to pay that Fifty Two Thousand Naira (N52, 000.00) non refundable fee which they had succeeded at and which was why nobody was doing anything anymore now that the money had been paid.
That was how 1 month, 2 months and 3 months elapsed with some of my suppliers still not contacted nor verified. Up until this moment, the bank has not felt the need to reach me about anything after all, I can’t sue the bank neither has the bank lost anything. If anything, it has gained my Fifty Two Thousand Naira (N52, 000.00) non refundable fee. The ultimate loser here is poor me and I can go to hell for all the bank cares. This is my experience with Nigeria’s Bank of Industry and I hope you take it into consideration when next you consider taking the government of Nigeria or any of her agencies serious.

And if you see the razzmatazz with which this people advertise their love for SME's, which way Nigeria. This is one of the reasons that has made guys, decide to find their way into the Nigerian government and borrow the money directly from the treasury. I chuckled when i saw #52000 just to read letter, this is the modus operandi in Nigeria. Baba even the letter that contains the list of people going to heaven will not be this expensive to read naa.