NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, June 26, 2015

FINCA’s newest subsidiary, FINCA Microfinance Bank Ltd. in Nigeria, surpassed USD 1 million in small loans to microenterprise and small business owners within its first six months of operation, it was announced today by President & CEO Rupert Scofield during his remarks at the Spring meeting of the Financial Inclusion Equity Council (FIEC), hosted this year by FINCA at its headquarters building in Washington, DC.

FINCA’s fully licensed Nigerian operations opened for business in December 2014, offering savings accounts, small business loans and other critical financial services in Owerri, Imo State. FINCA already serves more than 5,300 clients in Nigeria, with plans to expand beyond Owerri. Nigeria is the sixth African country in FINCA’s global network, in addition to Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nearly 700,000 urban and rural clients across Africa work with FINCA through bank branches and increasingly through agents and mobile banking.

“Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and it has a resource-rich, fast-growing economy. But it also has a very high poverty rate and 71% of the population is financially excluded,” said Scofield, citing the World Bank. “Lower-income people, microenterprises, and small businesses need access to socially responsible financial services like those of FINCA, so they can take part in the economy, generate income for families, and build their communities from the ground up.”

As a pioneer of the microfinance industry, FINCA has created opportunity for millions of low-income entrepreneurs through innovative lending practices and client support in 23 countries. FINCA is a member of FIEC, which is an association of leading private entities that make equity investments in financial inclusion throughout the developing world.