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At a recent stakeholders’ meeting, Governor Segun Oni of the state of Ekiti, Nigeria made several announcements pertaining to the development of the microfinance sector in the state. He disclosed that by next month, an Economic Team would be established in all sixteen local governments of the state to manage a new micro-credit fund. The fund will be comprised of a state government contribution of N50 million (USD 424,502) and local council contributions of N10 to N25 million (USD 84,900 to USD 212,251). It will be used to “develop the economic strategies of each of the local government areas”. Members of the Economic Team will be nominated by traditional rulers and will serve as volunteer servants of their community.

Source: This Day (Nigeria).

Source: mircoLINKS Connections (a publication of the US Agency for International Development (USAID)).

Source: Nigerian Tribune.

Unity Bank Plc., a commercial financial institution with 215 branches in Nigeria, has finalized arrangements to establish seven microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Kano and Jigawa, two states in the North West geopolitical zone of the country. The bank also plans to establish two MFIs each in the North East, North Central and South South zones of the country. These regions represent 19 of the 36 states which comprise Nigeria. The bank will use its subsidiaries BON Trustees Ltd. and First Venture Ltd. to launch the proposed MFIs.

Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), operator of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC/Chevron Joint Venture, has committed approximately USD 425,000 (NGN 53 million) to poverty alleviation initiatives, including capacity building and microcredit programs, in eight communities in Bayelsa State. General Manager of Policy, Government and Public Affairs for CNL, Femi Odumabo, states that this contribution is part of Joint Venture’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) program which aims to empower the people who live within the corporation’s area of operation by using a community engagement concept called the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU).

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the conversion of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Community Bank Limited into a microfinance bank. The community bank has operated on the campus of Olabisi Onabanjo University in Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria since March of 2003, and the majority of its shareholders are affiliated with the university. One source reports that, in its first year in business, the bank made a surplus that was “far in excess of its total paid up capital,” but no other sources were found to corroborate this information and no further information was found on the OOU Community Bank.

Nigeria is setting up its first credit bureau in an attempt to improve transparency, reduce fraud and enhance access to financial services to poorly served segments of the market. It will officially be called the Credit Reference Company (CRC).

Nine Nigerian banks have set up the bureau in partnership with Dun & Bradstreet, a global credit information provider, who have experience in running private credit bureaux in emerging markets. Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank are supporting with technical and advisory services.

48 communities within Nigeria benefited from N288 million (USD 2.3 million) in loans, courtesy of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), a subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Shell oil corporation operating in Nigeria, as a branch of Shell Nigeria. The loan is part of SPDC’s micro-credit and business development program aimed at “enabl[ing] entrepreneurs to take advantage of the economic opportunities in their locality.” Benefiting communities included in the loan are from Edo, Delta and Bayelsa States.

In accordance with the Nigerian legal requirement that all microfinance institutions (MFIs) operating in Nigeria must hold a MFI license, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has provided Ikole Microfinance Bank Ltd. with provisional approval to operate as a Nigerian MFI. The approval was given in a letter signed by Fred Oluwalademi, Director of CBN’s Other Financial Institutions Department on July 23, 2007. The letter comes two months after Ikole Microfinance first applied for its operating license.

Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: Ikole Microfinance Bank Ltd. Receives Provisional Approval by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for Microfinance Operations”

Five financial institutions in Nigeria have opted to sign on to Orbit banking solution, a banking system designed by Neptune Software Plc. Neptune is a banking software and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) provider with more than 30 customers in over 10 countries. It offers banking solutions, enterprise solutions, and consulting services. The Orbit system is a banking solution focused on micro-banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs). More specifically, this mechanism for retail services uses a central Relationship Information Management (RIM) facility to integrate account data, transaction activity, outside financial data, marketing information, and relationships with other customers. Orbit MFI is relationship-centric rather than product-centric. The Orbit RIM enables MFIs to categorize customers by a wide range of characteristics for segmentation, analysis, and reporting.
Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: Five Nigerian Microfinance Banks Opt to Use Neptune’s Orbit Banking System”

Segun Adaju, Deputy Manager of IMFB, a Nigerian microfinance institution (MFI), spoke at a business conference in Lagos, Nigeria. The meeting was hosted by FGBFI, a Christian organization of businessmen worldwide. Mr. Adaju’s presentation focused on his company’s work in Nigeria.

Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: Deputy Manager Segun Adaju of Nigeria’s Integrated Microfinance Bank Ltd. (IMFB) Speaks at Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowships International’s (FGBFI’s) Conference”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given provisional approval for newly established Treasure Microfinance Bank to begin operations. This is ahead of the December 2007 deadline set for all Community Banks in the country to convert to Microfinane Banks.

The targets of Nigeria’s microfinance policy, according to the CBN are to ensure that the majority of the poor but economically active population is covered by 2020, and to increase the share of micro credit as percentage of total credit to the economy from 0.9 percent in 2005 to at least 20 percent in 2020. (For further information on Nigeria’s policies on microfinance, refer to a previous MicroCapital article.)

Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: Treasure Microfinance Bank to Begin Operations in Nigeria”