Lockdown Slowing Disbursement Of N50 Billion CBN Credit-NIRSAL Microfinance Bank

NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB) has said that the delay in the disbursement of the N50 billion  credit facility by the Central Bank of Nigeria is due to the lockdown in some major cities across the country.
 
The Central Bank of Nigeria had introduced a N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TFC) to stimulate micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and households affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

However in  guidelines, the apex bank said the credit  would be issued through the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB) as the eligible participating financial institution for the scheme.

The Managing Director of NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, Abubakar Kure, said on a Channels TV programme on Wednesday, “You are all aware of the lockdown across the country and major cities. We have lockdowns around Kano, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and incidentally Kaduna. So all these major cities constitute a significant part of the applicants who applied for COVID [loans]. We are actually thinking outside the box to see how we can reach them so that they can come and have the loans.

“Currently what we do is that we are using digitization in   the form of emails. We send emails to those who have email accounts, we print their offer letters, send back to them, do the documentations and they are able to draw down. The most important thing is about the lockdown and that’s why the credit facility was created. It also constitutes a challenge.” he added. 

According to him, there have been issues concerning guarantors, but he. encouraged qualified applicants to apply for the facility.

He added that the microfinance bank had  received N5 billion from CBN for about 5,000 applicants, adding that up to  90% of the funds could be disbursed in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, he said, “If you go to our website, we have over 1000 applicants that are enjoying the facilities. The buildup is expected in a few days to come.”