Stakeholders in the microfinance sub-sector have pleaded with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release details of the planned reforms. In separate interviews with newsmen in Lagos weekend, the stakeholders said that details would enable them to plan.

CBN boss

They said that the long delay in releasing the reform details was disconcerting.  Malam Ibrahim Bamali, Chairman, North-West Zone, National Association of Micro-finance Banks (NAMB), said that many operators had not made up their minds on major issues about the reforms.

He said that the release of details of the reforms would guide operators on taking timely decisions on ways to recapitalise, whether through foreign investment, merger or acquisition. Bamali said that it was time the CBN came out specifically on new capital base for the different categories of micro-finance institutions.  “There have been rumours that the regulatory authority has increased the capital base of micro-finance banks operating in urban areas to N100 million and those in the rural areas to N50 million.

“But the association has made its own submission as regards the capital base and various meetings have been held with the Ministry of Finance.

We are waiting for the reform to know the way forward,” he said.  Bamali said that many micro-finance banks might not be able to meet the new capital base if it was very high.  Mr Olutayo Adenekan, a former chairman of the Lagos State chapter of NAMB, urged government to give the sector special attention to enable it to achieve its objectives.

He appealed to government to provide special fund to operators as it did to other sectors. Micro-finance banks in Tanzania were able to develop through the support of the Tanzanian government.

Tanzanian government was able to convince commercial banks to support small and medium macro-credit firms and this was done in 2001,” Adenekan said. The CBN Governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said at the 4th Annual Conference of Micro-finance and Entrepreneur Awards in Abuja on Jan. 21 that reforms were being planned for the sub-sector.