As part of policy to financially empower the economic active poor, the management of Trustfund Microfinance Bank has reeled out window of empowerment opportunities to sustain clients’ confidence.
The financial institution, which transformed to microfinance bank from the defunct community bank in 2007, has a customer base of 75,000
Sunny Idehen, the managing director of the bank, at a customer forum organised for clients in Benin City, said the institution in January 2012, was granted an operational licence to operate a state microfinance.
Idehen disclosed that the bank had 14 operational offices in Benin City metropolis, branches in Auchi, Ekpoma and Abudu in Orhionmwon Local Government area, noting that plans had been concluded to expand to more local governments before the end of 2015.
While assuring the institution’s continuous financial support to serious-minded customers, he however decried the high profile of loan payment indebtedness among the clients, listing the objectives of the forum to include interaction with the clients, ascertain their challenges as well as to intimate them on some government intervention funds that the bank was keying into, among others.
The bank is partnering National Agency for Poverty Eradication (NAPE) to disburse funds to farmers in the state and Edo State Ministry of Commerce and Industry to empower traders, he said, saying the bank was working with the Edo State government to access the sum of N2 billion from the N220 billion Central Bank of Nigeria Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) development fund that was launched by the Federal Government last August.
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The managing director added that the fund would be disbursed to clients through registered cooperatives, and however advised those that were yet to form cooperative to do so within the shortest possible time.
He said the fund would be given at a very minimal interest rate to the beneficiaries. Other windows of empowerment opportunities the bank posited that it was harnessing to empower its clients were fund from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in which it was appointed to disburse to farmers in the state as well as the Edo State Micro-Credit Scheme that was underway.
He further said that the bank was partnering the Bank of Industry to disburse loan to investor in the manufacturing sector to upgrade and expand their establishment, saying however that official introduced some technological innovation such as e-wallet, customised Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards, among others, to enhance customers’ banking activities.
The bank disbursed N950 million in 2013 fiscal year, and plan to increase its portfolio to N1.2 billion in the next six months, he said.
IDRIS UMAR MOMOH
