MfBs request Lagos State to create special court to address bad loans

The National Association of Microfinance Banks, Lagos State
Chapter, NAMBLag, has written to the state government requesting
for the creation of a special court to address the challenges of
Non Performing Loans, NPL, among the customers who are mainly small
businesses.

Speaking at the association’s eighth Annual General
Meeting/Election in Lagos, Chairman, NAMBLag, Mr. Omololu Fatunbi,
said that the letter has been submitted to the office of the
commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Lagos State.
According to him, the letter is receiving special attention adding
that NAMBLag still has about 200 members despite revocation of
licenses of some of them by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, last
month.

Fatunbi stated: “This perhaps is a strong signal to the
strategic importance of Lagos State in the delivery of sustainable
financial inclusion of the under-banked and the active poor in
Nigeria as at today. The executives have not for once stopped to
sensitize the public especially our customers on the importance of
enrolling on the platform of Bank Verification Number, BVN as means
of positively contributing to the financial inclusion agenda of the
CBN. Our member banks have prioritize the BVN enrolment in their
various banks, even though quite a number of the unbanked are yet
to benefit from the BVN registration of customers and other areas
of our operations is ongoing.”

Meanwhile, the association has elected new executives to direct
it’s affairs for the next two years, retaining its Chairman,
Fatunbi; Mrs. Mojisola Garber as Vice Chairman. Mr Obinna Onunkwo,
General Secretary; Pastor Ayo Olusola, Assistant General Secretary;
Mr Cheta Agbo, Financial Secretary; Mrs Oladejo Taiwo, Treasurer
and Princess Adeola Ilozobhie, Public Relations Officer were also
elected.

In his remark, former National President, NAMB, Mr. Valentine
Whensu, said that the sub sector is a sector that sows seeds
willingly due to its nature of empowering people both socially and
financially. “Financial involves making it sustainable why social
is really empowering people by bringing them out of poverty,”
Whensu said.

Also, Managing Director, Capestone Microfinance Bank, Mrs. Betty
Oluwasina, who received award of excellence in the sub-sector,
commended those that started microfinancing in 2006 and the new
entrants that have the boldness to come in despite all the
happenings in the sub sector.

“Surviving in the microfinance industry in Nigeria is tough and
for those that started it in the 2006 and the new entrants that
have the boldness to come in despite all the happenings in the sub
sector, I commend you. It has been a tough ride. Over the years,
new policies have come up and the best so far is the BVN.

The PAR of most MfBs have reduced drastically, when we first
started in my bank, PAR was 90 percent but today it is less than
one percent, Oluwasina said.