One of the key focus of the new administration of microfinance banks (MFBs) in the country is to bring an end to the delayed N220 billion Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Development faund launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2013.
After an election conducted during the fourth annual general meeting (AGM) of Nigeria Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB) recently in Lagos, Valentine Whensu, former chairman of NAMB, Lagos chapter, emerged the national president of the association.
“Our coming on board at this time also will witness the end of the delayed release of the MSME fund made available to MFBs. Our task will be to lay down the needed structure on which the funds can be accessed by any MFBs in Nigeria,” according to Whensu.
The new president also itemised capacity building, advocacy and self-regulation as some of the burning issues for his team.
Speaking with journalists after the election, he said: “We will ensure that we build the capacity of our members. We wouldn’t just be running activities again without carrying our audiences along; we will work on our visibility by engaging with the press more often, and utilise other social media platforms to carry the message of our impact on Nigerian economy to the world.”
According to him, we will focus on building relationships with organisations that have the capacity to either assist in ensuring proper funding or directly fund our sub-sector with the aim of mitigating the risk exposures in the sub-sector. “Furthermore, we will model our association after the association of Bureau De Change, whereby we are proactive in our responses to our regulators,” he said.
Olufemi Fabanwo, director of Other Financial Institutions Department (OFID), CBN, at the AGM, challenged the new executive members to ensure that members were mobilised to work in unison.
“The new executive members have to ensure that they mobilise members in such a way that there is unison, ensure that members are able to commit their resources, by paying their annual dues to the association promptly. They must ensure that there is a sound constitution for the association, as there are so many issues to be resolved. The secretariat needs to be strengthened so as to improve on capacity building, transparency, accountability and information dissemination. We need to have an association that is forging ahead,” Fabanwo said.
However, Jethro Akun, the immediate past president of NAMB, has expressed his satisfaction in the choice of Whensu as his successor. “One thing I am confident about is that he has the capacity to build on what we have done and do more. The first challenge for him is to build on what we have done, by doing more than us. Also, there is a liquidity problem that he has to face up to and overcome. He has to build on the existing relationship with our regulators. He should make sure that more MFBs come into the system.
“There is still a large market. There are still local governments that are not covered by MFBs,” he said.
HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE
