Posted on June 23, 2009 - by Gavin

Micro-finance banks to get $8.4m grant…

Vanguard Kaduna, Nigeria, The Executive
Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Investment
Promotion Commission, Alhaji Mustapha Bello, yesterday, said that
six micro-finance banks in the country will receive about $8.4
million grant this year. Bello said that the lifeline was to
address the problem of poor access to loan and equity capital
confronting micro, small and medium enterprises in Nigeria. He
spoke in Kaduna while addressing participants at the Business
Development Services Fair jointly organized by the World Bank and
the Federal Government. According to Bello, the grants awarded by
the MSME Project, a joint pilot project of the Federal Government
and the World Bank, were expected to attract over $20 million worth
of new private sector investment to the micro-finance institutions.
Bello further said that the six micro-finance banks are currently
serving over 800,000 active clients, including over 50,000 active
borrowers. “Access to finance is a significant problem for Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria. MSMEs have poor
access to both loan and equity capital,” he said. “To overcome
these constraints the project through its to finance component has
broadened and deepened finance provision to MSMEs through the
introduction of new financialinstitutions. “A total of $8.4million
of grants has been approved for six micro-finance banks-ACCION,
SUSU, IMFB (opened a branch in Kaduna), MIC, LFS, and Microcred
(will be operating from Kaduna)… “In this respect we recognize
the important role the MSMEs play in harnessing the forces of
economic growth to benefit the poor and have identified access to
both financial and non-financial support as critical to the growth
of NigerianMSMEs. “This is especially important as the current
global economic and financial crisis will have significant impact
onemerging economies,” he added. Earlier, the Team Leader,
WorldBank/MSME Nigeria Project, Mr. Emeka Ile said that the
projectwas working in Kaduna State with the New Nigeria Foundation
topromote rice production chain. Source:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/06/19/micro-finance-banks-to-get-84m-grant/