By Emeka Nkwocha

Following the story of a wonder bank in Enugu where over N4billion of customers’ money disappeared into the thin air, people are afraid to invest in other financial outfits.

In this chat with newsmen, Mr. Kingsley Amechi Ubenyi, the Managing Director of KSLEY Group, one the biggest lending companies in Enugu and its environs tries to differentiate between genuine businessmen and wonder ventures, accusing those he called intruders for setting up wonder banks.

Excerpts:

Ubenyi

We have a lot of people who are now deceiving people in the business of lending money; what makes KSLEY different from these fraudulent establishments?

That’s the challenge we are facing now; some jumped into the business without proper foundation and legal backings and so the result is inevitable. Some want to tarnish the image of our business. What we are doing here in Enugu for instance is different from what every other person or company is doing. Before we started, we  looked at the laws guiding such business and we tried to have enough legal backing to give our business a solid foundation.

What is the legal backing you are talking about?

It’s about licensing. We are backed up by the law which permits us to lend out money and to collect interest. And as the company continued to grow we decided to go into banking which led to the establishment of KSLEY Mega Micro Finance Bank. It all points to the fact that the company is doing well and we are progressing.

Soon you will start hearing of KSLEY Mega University which is going to be launched very soon. So when you see a company that has direction and the sincerity is there, the company must grow. But when people jump into a business they know nothing about, they are bound to fail.

Are you up to date with your payments?

Sure. As I speak to you today we live up to our commitments with our business friends. Recently, we upgraded to banking and the procedure with regards to opening account, meeting up with CBN rules and regulations, created minor short term bottlenecks. But very soon we will have our final license.

We do not owe anybody and we cannot owe because we are disciplined in what we are doing and we are following the rules strictly. This business is about trading, financial discipline and building trust. We had our annual stakeholder’s conference with our business friends in February, and we told them what to expect during the year.

So we engage people who are involved in what we are doing; we maintain our business promises as discussed. I don’t see any problem or anybody complaining except people who are trying to pull others down because they are envious.

How has your company contributed to the development of the economy?

It may interest you to know that in less than five years of our existence our company has over 1000 employees, but it’s unfortunate that nobody has ever commended us for our efforts towards creating employment. Also, we have been working hard to improve the economy by encouraging young entrepreneurs and granting them funds to do business; and we are committed to it.

But when somebody wakes up one morning and starts trying to beat the queue, it doesn’t work in this line of business. You must follow the law and operate within the specifications of the law. So when you have a direction and you are working hard to actualize it some people will try to pull you down; that’s what we are suffering but we are not deterred. That’s why I call on the government to come to our aid, to assist us to create jobs.

What is the secret of your outstanding success while others are folding?

It is not by magic because in the first place we are not a wonder bank. We are genuinely in business. We started with lending and we are progressing and diversifying. We are still employing and as others are going under we are building more business empires; we are also building a new university; these things are verifiable. So we are not on the same plane with the wonder banks.  Our integrity, sincerity and trust we have built over the years are the things that are sustaining us.

What back-up do you have in case of an emergency?

There is no banking without capitalization; that is primary. The edge of our sustainability is our ability to assess and determine the ability of our customer to pay back the loan. It is foolhardy to give loan to persons who has no capacity of paying back. Such loan is money thrown away; in our line of business the primary determinant is ability of the customer to return the loan.

How are you coping with the recession?

The recession in the country is really affecting every business but as you know some other businesses are thriving despite the recession. The magic is managerial ability and ability to adapt.