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United Nations publication, African Renewal reported that a group of three hundred women in South Africa, called the Pankop Women Farmer’s Forum, has received a loan of approximately USD 1 million from local commercial banks to invest in a fruit and vegetable dehydration plant called Diretsogetse Pankop Fruit Processing (Pty) Ltd.  The loan was extended with the understanding that if the women are unable to repay the loan, that the South African based Thembani International Guarantee Fund would assume USD 800 thousand of the losses.

The Federal Government of Nigeria disbursed loans worth Naira 81 million (approximately USD 543k) to encourage employment generation in the country. According to a press release on AllAfrica.com, these loans were disbursed in the capital city of Ajuba and chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Yayale Ahmed. The loan drawn was from the Enterprises Creation Fund which was launched by The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in partnership with the Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank (NACRDB). According to the release, the partnership between NDE and NACRDB was established in 2004. The loans were provided as soft loans to 370 beneficiaries to help them establish small business enterprises in keeping with the Directorate’s efforts to create and promote small businesses. Soft loans are loans that have extended grace periods and below-market rates of interest. No information on the interest rate charged for these loans is available.

Integrated Microfinance Bank Plc (IMFB), a Nigerian based microfinance institution (MFI) has commenced operations in the Nigerian State of Kaduna. This announcement was made by Mr. Simon Ankinteye, the managing director and chief executive officer of IMFB during a chat with reporters in Lagos, Nigeria, according to a press release found on the news portal, NigerianBulletin. The release quoted Mr. Akinteye as saying that IMFB would offer the people of Kaduna banking services and other products such as lease financing, partnership financing, investment account for children, a trust fund and a savings account. He also added that specialized skill training would be provided to empower the people of Kaduna to ‘live above poverty levels’.

Nearly two years after the crackdown on corrupt Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Rwanda by the Central Bank of Rwanda (BNR), depositors are still struggling to retrieve their deposits caught up with the fraudulent MFIs. According to a press release found on AllAfrica.com, in an effort to collect their money, depositors have decided to file their concerns with Rwanda’s Ombudsman’s office.

Local Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Benin which were subcontracted by the Government-run ‘Microloans to the Poorest’ program have been accused of taking bribes from their borrowers, according to a press release found on IRIN News. The Government-run program, which operates through five partner banks, provides loans up to a maximum of 60 US dollars to borrowers in Benin. No information on the partner banks involved in this program is available. These partner banks disburse loans to borrowers through local MFIs and NGOs which interface with the borrowers and serve as loan intermediaries. Loan payments from borrowers are also collected by these intermediaries and remitted back to the partner banks which lend them. The press release quoted Mr. Aboubacar Aboudou, the first director of the Government-run program, as saying that a lack of oversight coupled with the rapid growth of the program led to hiring of several ‘unscrupulous intermediaries’ to process loans. Mr. Aboudou stated that these intermediary organizations squandered funds and ‘made the poor even poorer’. The program’s current director, Komi Koutche has called for step to eliminate these intermediaries. No information is available on which local MFIs were involved in these fraudulent activities.

Microfinance is being proposed as a potential solution to the large number of commercial motorcycle operators known as ‘Okada’ who have recently found themselves unemployed in the Rivers State of Nigeria. The government recently banned the motorcycles in the state capital of Port Harcourt as a part of its urban renewal programme. The government has asked all willing ‘indigenes’ who are displaced by the ban to access the N2 billion (USD 12.8 million) microfinance programme with First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to venture into a taxi business, which is being managed by Skye Bank. The state Transport Commissioner, George Tolofari said that the measure was a part of a government effort to ensure that former Okada operators of Rivers State origin are provided with assistance and continue to feel a sense of belonging. He also stressed that the credit facilities must be used as intended by government.

Source: IRIN (United Nations).

Kings Microfinance Bank (KMFB), a Nigerian based microfinance provider announced that it has disbursed loans worth Naira 50 million, approximately equivalent to USD 367 thousand, to nearly 5000 Nigerians over the last several months. This announcement was made by Mr. Laide Adebayo, the Managing Director of KMFB during a chat with journalists at Lagos, Nigeria, according to a press release found on Vanguard – Nigeria. KMFB is one of the 815 organizations that have been licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to supply credit to the marginalized poor and thereby support the Nigerian Government in its efforts to address poverty and meet the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Originally founded as Maryland Community Bank, KMFB registered as a Microfinance Bank in January, 2008. KMFB does not report to the MIX Market, the microfinance information clearing house, nor has it published its financial data on its website. Hence information on its total assets, loan portfolio and client base is not available.