The National Credit Guarantee Company, NCGC, has helped participating financial institutions provide N46.95 billion in loans within its first year of operations, President Bola Tinubu has said.
According to Tinubu, the loans were supported by N21.59 billion in guarantees issued by the NCGC through 19 financial institutions. The President disclosed the figures on Monday, September 28, 2026, while highlighting the Federal Government’s efforts to expand access to formal credit for businesses and individuals. Tinubu said the arrangement means that every N1 provided as a guarantee helped unlock about N2.17 in credit from participating lenders. The NCGC was established to address challenges faced by businesses and individuals seeking loans, particularly borrowers with limited collateral or little credit history.
“Many viable businesses still meet the same obstacle at the bank. Lenders see too much risk in a sound business when the owner has little collateral or no credit history. We established NCGC to help change that. It carries part of the lending risk with participating financial institutions, giving them greater confidence to lend to businesses and borrowers they might otherwise turn away.”
The company currently works with 13 commercial banks, three microfinance banks and three development finance institutions. Tinubu said 67,512 borrowers across 25 states and the Federal Capital Territory had received credit backed by the NCGC. Women accounted for 11,374 of the beneficiaries, while 33.5 percent of all borrowers were accessing formal credit for the first time.
The President said this meant more than 22,000 Nigerians had entered the formal credit system through loans backed by the NCGC. He explained that access to formal credit could help borrowers expand their businesses, purchase equipment, restock their shops and take on larger orders.
According to Tinubu, businesses supported through the programme account for an estimated 661,291 direct and indirect jobs. The NCGC has also introduced initiatives targeting specific groups, including women owned businesses. Its GuaranteeHer programme is designed to expand financing for women entrepreneurs. The initiative targets more than N100 billion in financing for over 20,000 women owned businesses over five years and is expected to support more than 150,000 direct and indirect jobs, according to reports on the scheme.
Tinubu described the NCGC as part of the administration’s wider effort to build a credit based economy in Nigeria. He also pointed to other government backed institutions and programmes, including the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, the Bank of Industry and the Development Bank of Nigeria. The President said expanding access to formal financing would allow more Nigerians and businesses to take advantage of opportunities created by the government’s economic reforms.
“We will keep widening that road until the opportunities our reforms create reach homes and businesses in every part of Nigeria.”
The NCGC began operations in July 2025 and uses guarantees to share part of the lending risk with participating financial institutions, encouraging them to provide credit to borrowers who may otherwise struggle to meet conventional lending requirements.
