Soothing news came the way of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), in the country as the Nigerian Incentive-based Risk sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), said it would launch its Microfinance Bank (MFB) in February to serve their purpose.
NIRSAL projects to reach an estimated 400,000 MSMEs within the first two years of operation.
The Chairman, NIRSAL MFB (NMFB) Mr. Aliyu Abdulhameed, said the launch is scheduled to take place simultaneously across the six geopolitical zones in the country and at the flagship branch in Gwagwalada, Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He added that the other pilot locations are: Bauchi, Ibadan, Kaduna, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Lokoja Nipost offices.
The NMFB Chairman described the new bank as a game-changer that will complement and support the existing structures and players in the sector to better serve millions of small entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers in the country.
According to him, the bank, which plans to be in all the 774 local government areas and the FCT, is a product of a tripod partnership between NIRSAL, the Bankers’ Committee and Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST).
He added that the focus of the bank is to drive and deepen financial inclusion and access to finance for rural dwellers, as well as the unbanked and underbanked areas of the country. Broadly, the new institution, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB) will expand available options and empower SMEs across Nigeria with structured microcredit to help them establish and expand their businesses.
“The specific objectives of the bank are: to provide easy access to credit and other financial services to SMEs; to reduce unemployment rate in the rural areas; to reduce rural-urban migration.
“The MFB is in strategic partnership with NIPOST with a view to leverage on NIPOST’s widespread offices, while NIRSAL would bring to bear its expertise and experience in financing low income entrepreneurs and de-risking of credits originated by the MFB by providing guarantees in line with its mandate. The Bankers Committee provided the set-up equity capital and owns 50 per cent of the bank, while NIRSAL and NIPOST own 40 per cent and 10 per cent respectively”, Abdulhameed explained.
He noted that a strong basis for optimism regarding the success of NMFB was its plan to make use of extant structures to reach the most financially excluded Nigerians in rural communities.
“The mission and strategy of NMFB are focused on making significant, sustainable and measurable impact on small businesses across Nigeria and, by extension, on the lives of millions of Nigerians dependent on them in the overall interest of the economy. The bank will work with all relevant partners, stakeholders and players to achieve this.The rollout would further continue in other parts of the country eventually reaching all 774 Local Government Areas in the country”, he said.