Business
RIMA Sustains Empowerment Initiative
Rivers State Micro-Finance Agency (RIMA), has sustained the upward movement in empowering 11,019 indigenous entrepreneurs in three years.
The agency which started with the empowerment of 889 economically active poor persons in 2011, added 3,711 entrepreneurs or 417.4 per cent to close at 4,600 empowered entrepreneurs in 2012 as against the 889 of 2011.
In 2013, RIMA sustained the increase adding 930 entrepreneurs or 20.2 per cent, bringing the 2012 empowered persons to 5,530 entrepreneurs, as against 4,600 entrepreneurs empowered in 2012.
The analysis was done from the break down of the empowerment records during The Tide’s exclusive interview with the Managing Director/Chief Executive of RIMA, Mr. Innocent Iyalla Harry, in Port Harcourt.
Harry told The Tide that “RIMA is serious in empowering the indigenous business men/women who have nobody to help them,” adding that the agency has representatives in all the local government areas of the state.
He said that RIMA loan is accessible to all small-scale business people who want to expand their businesses.
“We are not dealing with freshers. We must identify the business before the loan is given,” he said, stating that RIMA also engage in monitoring and effective mentoring to ensure that the loan is utlised for business and is also paid back in time to enable others to benefit from the goodwill of Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, whose aim is to fish out the poor and empower them.
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
