CBN takes micro-credit awareness to state governments

Odidison Omankhanlen, Lagos - updated: Monday 07-07-2008

Chukwuma Soludo,
CBN GovernorIN a bid to alleviating poverty at the grassroots through micro-credit fund, Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), and Development Finance Department (DFD) have embarked on awareness visits to four states of the federation. The states include Lagos, Ondo, Ebonyi and Enugu States.

During the visits, the DFD made presentations to the state governors and the executive councils of the states on the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme and its products, Agricultural Credit Support Scheme, Micro-Credit Fund, Micro-finance Policy, Entrepreneurship Development Centres, NYSC Venture Prize Competition, and the need for the setting aside of 1 per cent of the budgets of the states for micro-finance development.

The visits to Lagos state, which took place last week, saw the CBN officials addressing the 42-member State Executive Council, including the Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola and the State Assembly.

The state governor, who expressed the desire to support its indigenes to move above the poverty line, following the presentation, disclosed that it had put in place, an enabling Micro-Credit Act to achieve the objective.

According to him, the State was committing a total of N 1.3 billion to the micro-credit programme of the government in the year 2008. Also, a 5-member Action Committee headed by the Deputy Governor was constituted during the visit to the Executive Council to work with the CBN officials to ensure the efficient implementation of micro-credit programmes in the state.

In a related development, The Executive Governor of Ondo State, Chief Olusegun Agagu, disclosed that it had a micro-credit agency that could support the implementation of the bank’s programmes, stating that the major components of the agency were the agricultural development trust fund, entrepreneurship development training programme, as well as resettlement, palliative and public officers’ loan schemes. He promised to access the Micro Credit Fund in favour of its indigenes.

Also, in earlier visits to Ebonyi and Enugu States, the governors had set up state-based arrangements/committees to work out the modalities for the participation of the states in micro-finance programmes, as a follow up to the presentations made to their Executive Councils.

We are creating more jobs - Akingbola

Odidison Omankhanlen, Lagos

GROUP Chief Executive, Intercontinental Bank, Dr. Erastus Akingbola, said the aggressive branch network development of the bank across the country and business expansion across all segments of the economy and abroad were creating more jobs and helping to reduce the growing unemployment in the country.

The banking conglomerate has stepped up its expansion drive since its successful consolidation in 2005 as it intensifies its vision of becoming the number one financial institution in Nigeria and Africa and among the top 100 in the world.

In the last financial year alone, the bank rolled out seventy new branches, bringing the total number of its branch offices to 300, one of the highest in the industry. Dr Akingbola said the new branches were creating thousands of new jobs and huge business opportunities for contractors and local communities.

“Every new branch we open not only helps in shrinking the swelling army of unemployed graduates, but creates opportunity for businessmen and women to earn income,” he said.

‘‘In the financial year 2007 alone, 2,139 new staff were added to the Group’s workforce,’’ he disclosed. This figure is expected to double in the 2008 financial year when a lot more new branches would have taken off. The bank’s equal opportunity employment policy and extensive welfare packages and robust training programmes, make it a company of first choice for many job seekers in the industry.

In the area of manpower development, Akingbola said over 6,000 went for several training programmes during the year with significant number of them taken in leading European and American business schools. This underscores the bank’s increasing international foray, analysts said would in no distance future make it an exporter of highly skilled labour.

Intercontinental Bank commenced its bold global expansion drive in Ghana in 2006 with the establishment of Intercontinental Ghana Plc. The Ghana subsidiary currently operates in eight business offices in key commercial centres across the country.

Only recently, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of the United Kingdom (UK), one of the strictest financial services regulatory authorities in the world, licensed Intercontinental Bank (UK) Plc, as a full-fledged bank offering wholesale banking services in the United Kingdom.

According to Dr. Akingbola, the bank’s vision is to be in all continents. “More foreign subsidiaries will open soon to exploit identified business windows in other parts of Africa, America, Europe, Middle East and Far East,” he said.

Intercontinental Bank has set its vision on being a world class financial institution and among the world’s ten leading banks. Analysts said the bank’s track record of superlative performance over the years puts it in good stead to achieve its vision.
The financial results for the year ended February 2008 recently published by the bank saw its deposit and assets base rising to a new industry high.