In a publication outlining guidelines for the operation of its Micro-, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the country’s central banking authority, included a mandate to allocate 60 percent of the fund, or NGN 132 billion (USD 802 million), for on-lending to women-owned enterprises in an effort to promote the empowerment of women and to reduce gender inequality.
Search Results for: nigeria
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Nigeria Announces Closure of 83 Microfinance Banks (MFBs), Denies Shutdown of Additional 600 MFBs
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the country’s central banking authority, has rescinded the licenses of 83 microfinance banks (MFBs) in the country [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigerian Diamond Bank Partners with African Guarantee Fund to Lend $25m to Micro-, Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
African Guarantee Fund (AGF), a Kenya-based organization that aims to increase financial inclusion by underwriting commercial bank lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa, reportedly has agreed to guarantee 50 percent of USD 25 million by Diamond Bank Public Limited Company (PLC), a Nigerian commercial bank, via its affiliate institutions in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Loans $4m to Grooming Centre in Effort to Reach 780k Nigerian Microenterprises
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, recently announced that it has committed to loan NGN 650 million (USD 4 million) to Grooming Centre, a Nigerian microfinance institution (MFI), to assist in expanding its reach to a total of 780,000 existing small businesses by 2018, including by expanding its coverage in rural areas of the country.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: AITEC Banking & Mobile Money West Africa, July 15 – 16, 2014, Lagos, Nigeria – NEW DATES
Event Name: African Information Technology Exhibitions and Conferences (AITEC) Banking & Mobile Money West Africa 2014
Event Dates: July 15 – July 16, 2014 (Originally scheduled for March 12 – March 13, 2014)
Event Location: Eko Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dutch Development Bank Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) Loans $6.8m to Nigeria’s Fortis Microfinance Bank For On-lending to Women
Dutch development bank Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO) reportedly has approved a five-year loan of EUR 5 million (USD 6.8 million) to Fortis Microfinance Bank, a Nigerian private-sector bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO) Commit $8.3m to Housing Microfinance Project, Lafarge Nigeria to Provide Technical Assistance
Agence Française de Développement (AFD), France’s international development agency, has announced a long-term credit line of NGN 1 billion (USD 6.3 million) to Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO), a Nigerian microfinance institution (MFI), to support an affordable housing project that aims to enable low-income families in Nigeria to construct or improve their housing [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell West Africa Invests Equity in MicroCred Microfinance Bank Nigeria
Goodwell West Africa, a private equity fund managed by Netherlands-based social investment company Goodwell Investments and Nigeria-based investment management and advisory firm Alitheia Capital, has announced that it will be investing equity of an unspecified amount in Microcred Microfinance Bank (MFB) Nigeria, a member of the France-based MicroCred Group [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell West Africa Invests Equity in Mainstreet Microfinance Bank of Nigeria
Goodwell West Africa, a private equity fund managed by Netherlands-based social investment company Goodwell Investments and Nigeria-based investment management and advisory firm Alitheia Capital, has announced that it will be making an equity investment of an unspecified amount in Mainstreet Microfinance Bank (MFB), a microfinance institution in Nigeria [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) Approves $300m Credit to Support “Housing Finance Project,” Housing Microfinance, in Nigeria
The International Development Association (IDA), the arm of US-based World Bank that provides interest-free credits and grants for programs in the poorest countries, has approved credit of USD 300 million to support Nigeria’s Housing Finance Project, which intends to provide access to long-term home financing for low-income people, including microentrepreneurs as well as those with higher incomes who are buying homes for the first time [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (NOI) Poll Reveals Mobile Money Not Widely Adopted in Nigeria
A recent survey in Nigeria on the adoption of mobile money services, conducted by the Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (NOI) Polls, an opinion polling and research organization based in Nigeria, concluded that sixty percent of Nigerians do not know what mobile money is or that it is offered in their country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Law Union and Rock Insurance Launches Microinsurance in Nigeria
Law Union and Rock Insurance Public Limited Company, which is based in Nigeria, reportedly has established a unit to provide microinsurance with the aim of positively impacting both the lives of individual poor people and the development of the informal sector.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Nigeria Launches $1.3b Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the country’s central banking authority, reportedly has launched a NGN 220 billion (USD 1.3 billion) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Fund, which is intended to offer loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) at an interest rate of 9 percent or less per year [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Western Union, eTranzact Launch Mobile Money Product in Nigeria
The Western Union Company, a US-based financial services company, reportedly is partnering with eTranzact, a Nigeria-based mobile money service provider, to launch a mobile money service in Nigeria. The service is expected to allow customers on the eTranzact mobile money platform, PocketMoni, to receive mobile money transfers from 23 “sender” countries using their mobile phones.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Propose Unified Software System for Microfinance Banks (MFB) in Nigeria
The National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), a trade group of 820 microfinance banks (MFBs) in Nigeria, recently partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the country’s main financial regulator, to propose a unified software system for all of NAMB’s member institutions.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Create “Geospatial Mapping of Financial Institutions” Program in Effort to Boost Inclusion
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria’s central bank and main financial regulator, reportedly has partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a US-based nonprofit organization, to form a new initiative called “Geospatial Mapping of Financial Institutions” that aims to increase the financial inclusion of low-income Nigerians [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigerian Government Promotes 19 Microfinance Banks to Increase Financial Inclusion
The Nigerian government reportedly has financed the establishment of 19 microfinance banks and offered assistance in actualizing them in an effort to provide credit facilities to poor households in the country [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MasterCard, Nigeria National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to Produce 13 Million “National Identity Smart Cards”
MasterCard, a US-based payment solutions company, recently announced a new partnership with the Nigerian National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), an initiative of the Nigerian government to enroll all citizens and permanent residents into a national identity database, to produce 13 million “National Identity Smart Cards” that can be used as both identification cards as well as an electronic payment solution.