By Providence Obuh, Vanguard

The Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been called upon to step up effort towards the launch of the Small and Medium Enterprises Credit Guarantee Scheme (SMECGS), to promote access to credit by SMEs in the country.

Meanwhile, in realization of the huge knowledge deficiencies among micro business operators, King Solomon Microfinance Bank (KSMfB) embarked on a five weeks training programme to improve their business ideas.

“If this fund is launched by the CBN, it will remove all of the areas in which the MFBs are being beclouded, we want the government and regulatory agencies to help us put up a fund to train, not only to train the bankers but to train the entrepreneurs, to help them improve their businesses, Mrs Angela Adegboyega Chairman KSMfB has said.

“In our micro credit experience of lending to our clients who are mainly traders, street vendors, market women, artisans and so 00, we have realized the need to address some of the knowledge deficiencies and gaps which we have identified in these type of businesses and to provide tailor made training to address these knowledge gaps, Adegboyega stated, saying that SMEs have been recognized Internationally as the engine for development and poverty alleviation in any economy.

Speaking at the grass roots business skills workshop for micro entrepreneurs organized by bank in collaboration with Freedom Foundation, a Non Governmental Organsiation, she stressed that MFBs are critical to any economy seeking growth, hence there are so many people the conventional bank will not give money to, especially entrepreneurs. “The roles of MFBs are important because they are dealing with more than 70 percent of the population of the country.

“We in the bank, have seen the need to improve the businesses of very small enterprises and to support the start up of others not only through financial empowerment but also by training entrepreneurs on what makes business successful and sustainable.

“By organizing this workshop free for all participants, the bank is joining hands with the Government to improve the social and economic well being of the micro entrepreneurs.”

Corporate Social Responsibility
The workshop organized is in fulfillment of our social responsibility and the role our bank is expected to play, Adegboyega added.

She called on other Microfinance banks to provide similar training for micro businesses and entrepreneurs in the informal sector in their constituencies who have also not been exposed to such trainings.

Managing Director Mr. reveal that as at August 31st 2012, the bank has given out about N113, 000,000 to about 520 customers with 70  per cent women leading the trail, while its capital base moved up to N90, 000, 000 as a unit MfB from N20, 000, 000 at which the bank started operations.

, Mrs. Dayo Simpson of the, Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation commended the initiative, encouraging others to join.

However, it would be recalled that the FGN through the CBN launched the microfinance banking policy in December, 2005 to grant microfinance banking licenses to institutions to enable them provide banking services to the unbanked and those that were not attended to by the conventional banks.