Business experts and microfinance directors have identified lack of integrity and corporate governance as part of reasons why many small and medium businesses struggle to survive in the present economic situation.
Speaking at the 7th annual general meeting (AGM) of KCMB Microfinance Bank Limited in Ilorin on Wednesday, the chairman, board of directors of the bank, Olusoji Oyawoye, said focus of business owners should be on clean business and integrity.
“When business is premised on profit at all costs, rather than value adding modules, it backfires. Focus should be on clean business and integrity. You have to be clear on value you’re adding and be focused on customers that need your services. “The year 2018 was particularly challenging for our bank. You will recall that a lot of businesses struggled to survive that year. That led to a lot of our customers not being able to service their loans as at when due, leading to significant provisioning for bad or substandard loans,” he said.
Oyawoye said however that despite the challenges, the bank had continued to fulfil its vision “as a reference point for operational excellence as well as enhancing entrepreneurial potential of small and medium businesses through best practices.”
He said the bank’s deposits portfolio grew from N209.7 million in 2018, representing a 6.9 per cent increase, adding that its customer base grew from 18,163 in 2017 to 24,466 in 2018.
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