We refer to the article with the above caption published on October 26, 2019. While we thank the author, Emeka Oraetoka for his knowledge of the import of the developmental and transformative goals of our institution, it is necessary to make this rejoinder to offer the public the correct position regarding the ownership, vision and values of the National Microfinance Bank (named NIRSAL Micro-finance Bank -NMFB).
We are certainly in agreement with the author that the economic empowerment of the rural poor, through financial inclusiveness is the best way to reverse rural-urban migration and set a platform for real growth for Nigeria; we equally agree that the National Micro-finance Bank platform is the first real attempt by the Bankers Committee to strategically target the population at the lower end of the economic pyramid. However, in order not to leave any misleading information out there for public consumption, there is the need for clarification on the areas of the article addressing the origination and ownership of the NMFB, the state of the project take-off and the Milestone achievements, as agreed with our stakeholders.
NIRSAL Microfinance Bank is a Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) bank, using a National Micro-finance License to service the economic intervention goals of the federal government, guided by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The idea for the bank was with the full knowledge and active financial support of the 23 deposit money banks in the country, represented by the Bankers’ Committee which has a 50% stake in the NMFB. Other owners are the Nigerian Incentive-based Risk-sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) with a 40% stake and the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) with a 10% stake. The goal of the Institution is to address the challenge of extending financial and non-financial services to persons and families at the bottom of the economic pyramid in Nigeria and build on the limited success of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, which targets 80% financial inclusion and 100% growth in SMEs by the year 2020.
It is pertinent to acknowledge the outstanding role of NIPOST in bringing the above aspiration to reality by graciously providing co-location opportunities in existing NIPOST facilities across the country as its Equity with the target to be in the 774 Local Government Areas (LGA) of the country in the next 18 months. NMFB is currently operational in 56 locations, covering all the state capitals and the FCT, which will be ramped up to 160 by the first quarter of 2020.
Kenneth Nwokike is the Head, Corporate Communications, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank
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