…says no hiding place for defaulters
The Nigerian Consumers Credit Corporation has said that it is working with relevant institutions to evolve legislation that will help check payment defaults.
Uzoma Nwagba, Managing Director/CEO of CREDICORP, disclosed this on Tuesday, while briefing State House Journalists at the Presidential Villa in Abuja after briefing President Bola Tinubu on the company’s activities in the past one year.
Nwagba said the consumer credit company which was established in April last year, would be targeting one million beneficiaries, this year with 400,000 youths, 50,000 credits for vehicles purchase, 300,000 credit for energy alternatives, 150,000 for digital devices and 100,000 for other life essentials.
He stated that in line with the new national agenda, it would embark on extensive orientation on the new credit culture, targeting youths
Reacting to concerns over loan repayments behaviour, Nwagba, said “ We are working very closely with the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President and with the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, around legislation and the laws to check credit behaviours, including defaults.
He however dismissed insinuations that Nigerians have unsavory behaviour to credit repayments, adding that the country only needs effective regulatory mechanisms to deal with such behaviours where they occur.
“I actually don’t think that Nigerians are worse people than the other members of the globe. I really think that behaviour is driven by incentives. I don’t think that we are genetically more predisposed to either crime or to graft in a bank or not paying loans.
“So when you say, Nigerians have unsavory culture towards loans, the difference between a liberal society, like America and here is that there are systems that check you. If you don’t pay back your loan, it follows you. The next time you want to rent a house, your landlord checks your record and sees that you are owing.
“The next time you want to buy a car, they check it, or if You want to buy a house, they check it. Your interest rate continues to rise on account of how indebted or delinquent you have been in the past.
“We don’t have that here, that is all. So where there are consequences for predatory behavior, then you’ll find that people stop taking advantage of them. I figure, speaking of what we call the loan apps, or loan charts, so we don’t have, I don’t think we have a predisposition as Nigerians for bad loan behavior. I just think we don’t have systems that check, which is why the laws need to change. And they are changing.”
The CrediCorp also disclosed plans for a new “ Central Credit Bureau” for the whole country.
He declared that the bureau would ensure a level playing field for every Nigerian to have access to credit
“So, whether you are a carpenter or you are MD of an organisation, there will be a score for you, and then it will be on your NIN, So there is no hiding place for anyone again. So if I want to rent a house, the landlord can actually ask for my score. And even the money lenders will have access to it. I mean, the normal state money lenders, everybody will have access. Everybody will have to drop their report on it, and so there will be a proper credit score for everyone in Nigeria”, he added.
Nwagba, who reiterated that the country would require about N180 trillion to fund consumers credit to allow about 50% of Nigerians access consumers credit, added that the CBN would clean up the credit industry, through a central credit records system.
He noted that the company is providing wholesale capital to micro finance institutions by giving credit guarantees in the absence of capital, through a portfolio company, known as National Credit Guarantee Company.
He also disclosed that the company would embark on “cultural reorientation on taking credits to eliminate the stigma around credits.”
Providing further statistical updates, he noted that CREDICORP had approved about 23 financial institutions, out of the over 100 institutions that applied for partnership
He stated further that other areas covered so far include credit access for lights and bills, solar panels and the CNG facilitation.
Nwagba who noted that first time borrowers account for about 63% of their clients, said beneficiaries included 49% women and 45% youths,
“We are crystalizing the local industries through credits to Nigerians to enable them patronize local products from the industries at single digit rate”, he said.
