NIRSAL MFB And Disbursement Of N408bn Loan » Voice of Nigeria
Some recipients of NIRSAL microfinance bank intervention loans would have died at the Central Bank of Nigeria. The general view is that a credit facility can help them revive their business, which has been hit hard by the negative effects of a coronavirus pandemic.
Beneficiary Gabriel Kuma, who lives in Abuja, said he decided to withdraw the loan to start a business. He said dependence on wages alone would affect his standard of living, and the consequences of a coronavirus pandemic for business would lead to a loss of income and sometimes a need to find sustainable income.
Kuma invested his loan in food production and trade in goods. Kuma praised NIRSAL MFB for its simple application process, saying its decision to switch to food production was based on the belief that there is always a demand for food.
Another borrower, James Agasi, said he could expand his existing business with the NIRSAL facility.
James, also based in Abuja, said that after spending much of his business capital to cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, new funds need to be invested in the company.
It has two supermarkets, and sales and profitability are declining until 2020, when it all dragged on because it couldn’t open its retail store because the market was completely closed.
“Because the whole economy was closed at that time, no new funds came from my business. We have to survive, so to survive, we took the money I had in the bank to buy the goods.
“We also started spending money out of that money until the restrictions were eased. I needed new capital and turned to our market association to borrow money, but the demand for loans from other members was too high for the association. ”
Abubakar Kure, CEO of NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, urges beneficiaries to use the fund for the purpose for which it was intended, as the bank would ensure that everyone who takes advantage of this facility should repay what they took.
He said: “This is not a grant but a credit facility to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on businesses, especially SMEs.
“SMEs are the engine of every economy because they provide jobs and taxes for the state.
“We encourage people to apply. You don’t need to know anything before you apply, and as soon as you qualify for a loan. ”
Overall, the bank has impacted the lives of many Nigerians by disbursing a total of € 408.54 billion to 712,477 beneficiaries.
2018 The Banking Committee and the CBN announced a decision to set up a national microfinance bank with the aim of improving access to credit and improving the efficiency of the banking sector in order to eliminate the activities of key sectors of the economy.
In cooperation with the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), the bank has to maintain offices in all areas of local government in 774 countries. Access to credit was a major obstacle to the disbursement of intervention funds by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
With this in mind, NIRSAL MFB received a CBN license and was established as a private limited company in 2019, and in the same year began operations as a National Microfinance Bank licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Bank 75 percent. Belongs to the Bankers’ Committee, 15 percent. – NIRSAL and 10% – NIPOST.
The bank started operations with seven pilot sites in Abuja, Bauchi, Ibadan, Kaduna, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Lokoja.
