By Peter Egwuatu

Moneygram International has commend-ed LAPO Microfinance Bank for effectively disbursing loans to the low income earners in its effort to eliminating poverty in Nigeria.

Moneygram Regional Director for Anglophone West Africa, Mrs. Faeyikemi Adebayo, who gave the commendation during a visit to LAPO’s office in Lagos weekend, said “Moneygram International, a global money transfer provider, during the 200,000th location celebrations of our company last year donated $200,000 cash to many institutions across the world and fortunately for Nigeria, LAPO, through the Grameen Foundations, GF, received $20,000.”

She further explained that the projects allows them to channel resources, though the GF to directly intervene and affects the lives of beneficiary women entrepreneurs.

According to her, “During our visit to LAPO’s loan recipients and the credit union leader, we saw the amazing things they had done with the loan they got .

“As a money transfer provider, we have first hand knowledge of how important small sums of money are to individuals working to build a better life for themselves and their families.”

Adebayo, added that Moneygram shares LAPO’s aspirations, especially the drive to enhance income genera-ting capacity of the poor through access to flexible financial services, embolden poor women through self esteem enhancing programme and promotion of gender equity.

“We urge beneficiaries to work hard and make good their obligations in terms of repayment. This way, the fund will grow and others can share in the opportunity for a better life.”

Speaking, Managing Director, LAPO MBF, Mr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe, commended Money-gram and GF for support-ing its company and the trust reposed in them to effectively disburse loan to the needy.

“Obviously LAPO’s clients and Nigerians stand to benefit immensely from the remarkable partnership between GF and Moneygram.

“LAPO is a pro-poor development organisa-tion with operations in Nigeria and Sierra Leone. It conceives of poverty as an octopus with the tentacles of material deprivation, poor health and social and gender inequity.

“LAPO addresses these faces of poverty with microfinance, health awareness and social empowerment programmes.”

He further disclosed that LAPO in 2010 extended N21bn loans to women engaged in micro enterprises.

“Though we have disbursed N6bn in the first quarter of this year,, but we target N35bn in this financial year.

“Our partnership with the GF since 2002 has tremendously enhanced our capacity to implement our core mandate. Our institutional review and strenthening project in 2002 to 2004 was supported by the GF.

“LAPO is one of the highest beneficiaries of the GF’s Guarantee scheme. With the Guarantees provided by GF, LAPO has accessed a cumulative sum of N2.6bn.”

In his response, Mr. Steve Wardle, a representative of Grameen Foundation, disclosed that its firm has been supporting micro-finance in sub-Saharan Africa for almost a decade.

“Our work in Nigeria and across the globe is guided by one simple principle: we want to see the poor people, especially those living in harder to reach areas, have access to the micro finance and technoloy services that can help them move themselves out of poverty.”