Charles Nwankwo
Financial institutions have been called upon to support micro enterprises to grow in Nigeria.
National chairman of the Association of Micro Credit Institution of Nigeria (AMCIN) and Professor of Christian Education, Edwin Uche, made the call in Owere, Imo State during the South East and South South national stakeholders’ meeting held to evaluate the issues that borders the association.
Prof. Uche in his presentation, said that AMCIN is looking at how the state structures that are working with members at the bottom of the pyramid to ensure that members have access to finance and benefit from the existing windows of development bank and CBN and also see how best the existing policies of Government can be better worked upon as a team to see that Cooperative members are faring better served within the existing financial system.
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“We had a lot of interaction and engagement on how best to ensure that the micro credit institutions are able to deliver better financial services to our members in the rural areas.
“The poor masses in Nigeria are the individual that play within the financial system. Every poor person have an enterprise he can involve in and the only way they can benefit is by ensuring that there is funding to support their micro enterprise.
“We want to work with the necessary institutions that can make it possible for us to have funding to give to micro financial institution who belong to Cooperative in order to advance individual in order to advance their micro enterprise to grow.
“Micro finance institution are able to mentor and support individuals who have micro enterprise with finance to be able to make more money and deliver values to stakeholders and make their life more meaningful.
Prof. Uche however charged micro finance institutions to deliver value based on global best practices, provide finance to individual micro enterprise at affordable rate in such a manner that will enable them grow their businesses, make themselves available and provide other financial products that can make their life more meaningful, teach them on the key existing digitalized financing windows like the e-naira framework, noting that cooperative members at the bottom of the pyramid who are struggling to survive through business need to understand such a product from CBN and take advantage of the existing institutions and make them to embrace technology, stating that technology drives financial system, build the Capacity and sensitise members in n the rural areas.
Prof. Uche optimistically said that with sensitisation, enlightments and capacity building, financial micro enterprise will be able to see reasons why they need to key into it. More people will be linked with the financial system and more people will pull out of poverty.
The AMCIN Zonal Coordinator South East and Chairperson Ebonyi State Chapter, Mrs. Comfort Nweke pledged more effort to ensure that our people are uplifted from abject poverty through the framework of AMCIN
Mrs. Nweke implored local government coordinators to generate quality and credible data from members through which vulnerability index of an individual members could be ascertained at a glance when needed.
Mrs. Nweke encouraged coordinators in charge of various cooperatives to regard the work as selfless service, adding that the benefit will come at when due, by the special grace of God a lot of loan and grant products will come to members.
