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E-Financial

LAPO MFB: A commendable Half Year despite the Pandemic

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By Paul K Adegboyega

Undoubtedly, 2021 – the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic – has been another tough year for many Nigerians especially low-income earners who have limited access to financial services.

LAPO MFB: A commendable Half Year despite the Pandemic

It has also been a difficult year for the microfinance banks (MFBs) which serve this indigent category who have increased difficulty paying back loans since the pandemic started.

Many MFBs are facing serious challenges, some existential, that are threatening their bottom lines and very survival.

Therefore it is commendable to find a microfinance bank that is not only weathering the pandemic’s many disruptions, sustaining critical services to entrepreneurs and low-income earners but also maintaining the rigorous standards that it is well known for.

Within the first six months of 2021, LAPO, Nigeria’s largest MFB has distinguished itself through continued high performance while serving its millions of customers and also responding to the prevailing health and safety challenges.

As the year began, LAPO continued to prioritize the health and safety of its customers and staff through various initiatives including its intensive campaigns promoting pandemic awareness on social media platforms.

It will be recalled that in 2020 LAPO had taken many proactive measures in response to the pandemic.

For instance, it shut down its on-site operations on March 25 2020, ahead of the Federal Government’s own lockdown order and also paused interest payments on its loans for six weeks.

The institution also distributed food and other relief items across Nigeria, made donations to the Edo and Lagos State Governments to support their efforts in addressing the pandemic and sustained its own Covid-19 awareness campaigns on radio stations and online platforms even after resuming on-site operations.

With business activities picking up following the Christmas holidays and amidst great uncertainty about vaccination, new waves of infection, new variants of Covid-19, etc, LAPO also boosted its advocacy efforts to encourage customers and the public to keep taking precautions.

In addition to the usual difficulties of meeting obligations such as paying school fees, house and business rents etc at the beginning of the year, small and medium scale entrepreneurs also face the challenge of acquiring or updating critical business assets.

Therefore it was helpful that LAPO also began the year by promoting a slew of customer-friendly products to the public in the New Year.

Such products include LAPO’s Collateral-free Asset Loans which help people pay for Generators, Tricycles, Refrigerators, Pure Water Machines, Printing Machines and other items often needed by small businesses.

The adverts encouraged business owners to come forward even if the business assets they needed were not among those listed.

The bank also promoted a bouquet of educational loans including the School Fees Loans which provide N20,000 to N200,000 for parents with children in primary school and N50,000 to N500,000 for those with undergraduate wards.

These education loans were timely considering that many parents are finding it difficult to keep their children in school due to lay-offs, failing businesses and other economic hardships related to the pandemic.

LAPO also announced the School Improvement Loan through which it provides much-needed finance to proprietors of low to medium income nursery, primary and secondary schools to help them improve their facilities and equipment.

LAPO continues to offer access to microcredit through these and other unique products such as its My Pikin and I Loan, its Clean Energy Loans, SME Loans, among others.

As a testament to the importance of microcredit and a nod to LAPO’s reputation, the institution was cited by an Arise TV anchor during a February edition of The Morning Show which featured former Governor Peter Obi.

“How do we increase banks like LAPO to get people microcredit to do business?” said the anchor as he discussed economic matters with the former Governor.

On its own, the bank continues to increase access of underserved populations to microcredit as seen in its growing presence across the country.

By February, LAPO announced that it was available in 535 locations across 34 states through which it serves over three million customers.

Also in February, to lift the spirits of its numerous customers and encourage them morally to push through the difficulties of the pandemic, LAPO organised a nationwide celebration in which it gave gifts to customers to mark Valentine’s Day.

LAPO recorded more wins in March as it was awarded ‘The Most Supportive Bank’ national category in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Agricultural Credit Scheme Funds (ACGSF), evidence of its continual support of the Agricultural Sector.

The institution was also commended by the CBN for financing and producing the best farmer in 2020 under the ACGSF. LAPO joined the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) in 2012 to provide credit support to farmers across the country in a sustainable manner. Since then it has disbursed over N27 Billion to over 34,000 farmers and agro-allied operators across Nigeria.

Following the award, LAPO sustained its momentum in March. In building on its culture of providing financial literacy to various key demographics, the institution embarked on campaigns to mark the 2021 Global Money Week from March 22 to 28 which raised awareness on the importance of ensuring that from a young age, people become financially literate and build good money habits.

In line with this focus, the institution made sensitization visits to various schools and also organized a webinar designed to train youths on Money Management, Saving Skills, and Career Development, among others.

As an institution LAPO remains an active promoter of good financial practices and a credible authority on financial inclusion. So it was no surprise that its Founder and Chairman, Dr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe was chosen to deliver the keynote address at the 6th Annual Symposium of the Nigerian Microfinance Platform on April 29 on the topic: Measures for Deepening the Financial Inclusion Drive in the Country.

As the year approached its mid-point, LAPO continued to balance its disbursement of bespoke loans and other material support with providing education and awareness to its customers and the general public.

Most recently, on June 11 and 12, LAPO hosted a two day seminar to train business owners to boost their reach and increase customer patronage by effectively using social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, especially through targeted advertising.

LAPO’s sustained efforts to adequately cater to the critical demographics it serves in spite of prevailing challenges are commendable and as described by the television anchor, worth emulating.

*Adegboyega is a policy analyst.


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E-Financial

GTCO to Become First Nigerian Bank to List on London Stock Exchange

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By 8 am on July 9, GTCO Holdings is set to commence trading on the London Stock Exchange.

GTCO to Become First Nigerian Bank to List on London Stock Exchange

As the group is set to list all its shares on the London Stock Exchange, becoming the first Nigerian banking entity to do so.

This is as the group launches a public offer of new ordinary shares to raise approximately $100 million on the London Stock Exchange.

The equity offering, which is an accelerated bookbuild and managed by Citigroup, began on July 2 and is to last until July 31.

On July 31, the group announced that it would cancel the listing of its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) on the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Official List.

It will also cancel their admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s main market.

In place of the GDRs, the group will list all its ordinary shares directly.

aims to admit all its shares to the equity shares category for international commercial companies under a secondary listing on the FCA’s Official List.

The shares will also begin trading on the LSE’s main market for listed securities.

According to a regulatory filing on the London Stock Exchange, the net proceeds from the offering will be used to recapitalize GTBank Nigeria.

Based on the prevailing exchange rate of N1,540 to the US dollar, the targeted $100 million equates to approximately N154 billion.

This capital raise is expected to position the Group to fully meet the N500 billion minimum paid-up share capital required by regulators for banks with international licenses.

As of now, both Zenith Bank and Access Holdings have already met—and exceeded—this threshold.

 


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E-Financial

NAICOM Issues New Licenses to SanlamAllianz Life, General Insurance

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The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has handed over new licenses to SanlamAllianz Life and General Insurance Nigeria Ltd at brief ceremony held in Abuja.

Olusegun Omosehin, commissioner for Insurance emphasized the Commission’s commitment to supporting the growth of insurance entities in the country, while ensuring strict compliance with regulatory requirements. He urged the companies to prioritize good corporate governance, stability, and timely claims settlement processes.

The Commissioner reiterated NAICOM’s dedication to removing unnecessary bottlenecks and improving the insurance industry’s overall performance. He expressed confidence that the merger would enhance the companies’ capabilities and contribute to the industry’s growth.

SanlamAllianz recently launched its operations in Nigeria, marking a significant step in the company’s Pan-African expansion.

The launch follows the merger of Sanlam and Allianz’s Nigerian operations, creating a new entity named SanlamAllianz Nigeria.

This joint venture aims to transform the Nigerian insurance landscape by offering enhanced customer experiences, innovative solutions, and improved financial inclusion.


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E-Financial

World Bank Approves Extra $65m for Nigeria’s SPESSE

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World Bank has approved an additional $65 million loan for Nigeria to support the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, increasing the total financing for the initiative to $145 million.

World Bank Approves Extra $65m for Nigeria’s SPESSE

The approval was granted on June 24, 2025, according to details posted on the World Bank’s website, which also indicates that the project’s status has moved to “active” following the approval.

The SPESSE project, initially launched with an $80 million loan approved in February 2020, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards in both the public and private sectors across Nigeria.

The World Bank described the project’s development objective as the establishment of sustainable capacity in these areas.

This latest approval is part of a broader wave of financing expected from the World Bank to Nigeria in 2025.

The bank is scheduled to approve loans totalling $1.61 billion over the coming months, supporting various development initiatives.

Among these is a $300 million loan for the ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ expected to be finalised by the end of July.

This project aims to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in selected local government areas in northern Nigeria.

In September, the World Bank plans to approve four additional loans: a $10.5 million facility to support technical assistance for the Central Bank of Nigeria, a $300 million Health Security Program targeting Western and Central Africa (Nigeria – Phase IV), a $500 million project for building resilient digital infrastructure (BRIDGE), and a $500 million loan under the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project aimed at promoting sustainable growth and job creation within key agricultural sectors.

Earlier in March 2025, the bank approved three financing requests amounting to $1.13 billion.

These funds are directed towards projects focused on enhancing quality education, boosting household and community resilience, and improving nutrition.

Among the approved loans were $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project, $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme, and $500 million for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.

In February, the Nigerian government announced expectations of new World Bank loans totalling $2.2 billion for six different projects in 2025. This follows a $1.5 billion loan disbursed in 2024 aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation efforts.


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