NAN-HE-12
Training
By Lucy Nwachukwu
Abuja, Feb.15, 2017 (NAN) The Association of Non-Bank Microfinance Institution of Nigeria (ANMFIN) says it will train 1,000 microfinance institutions on proper business ethics to help boost their businesses in 2017.
Mr Godbless Safugha, the Executive Secretary of ANMFIN, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to him, the training will be in the areas of risk management, corporate governance, rural business plan and financial analysis among others.
He said the association planned to strengthening its state offices to provide professional services to its members at the state level.
“We plan to provide a common IT platform for 1,000 institutions reaching over one million end clients.
“We will form strategic alliance with financial institutions and development partners to increase access to finance in the rural areas using various access points.
“The association intends to build an agent network with presence in all the 774 local governments in the country and will also engage in so many other initiatives for members to move forward,’’ Safugha said.
On the challenges faced by the association in 2016, Safugha said that 2016 was a very challenging year for Nigeria as a country and ANMFIN was not an exception.
“looking back, I can say that the major challenge the association faced was strengthening of our state offices, especially those in the North-eastern part of the country.
He further said that the issue of capacity building was also another major challenge because the association was able to train only about 540 institutions out of its over 4,000 affiliate members.
On the challenge of access to funding, he said ANMFIN was working in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bank of Industry (BOI) to ensure funding for its members.
He said the banks were providing the funds through the Micro Small and Medium Development Funds (MSMEDF) and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) geared towards affordable funding to micro entrepreneurs.(NAN)
LCN/MO
=======Edited by Morayo Omolade