Microfinance Bank Plc has received a loan facility worth five million Euros (N1.064 billion) from the FMO, the Netherlands Development Finance Company.
The company, in a statement in Lagos on Wednesday, said that the fund was a five year term loan. It said that the fund would be applied for on-lending, to boost activities in the microfinance sector of the economy.
Mr Kunle Oketikun, Fortis Managing Director, said that the transaction would enhance the company’s core services of making funds available to small scale businesses at reduced cost.
According to him, the loan will enable its esteemed customers have access to finance at cheaper rates and for longer periods.
Oketikun said that the company would remain committed to the growth of the microfinance industry in Nigeria.
“With the introduction of mobile money, electronic banking and internet banking, the services of formal financial institutions will soon get to all Nigerians, irrespective of location,” he said.
Also speaking, Linda Broekhuizen, FMO Chief Investment Officer (CIO), said that the company was the first microfinance organistion in Nigeria to benefit from its loan.
Broekhuizen said that the loan was granted to Fortis to support entrepreneurship and for empowerment of small enterprises in Nigeria.
She said that the FMO facility would strengthen the country’s financial inclusion initiative, aimed at stimulating financial services development.
FMO is a Dutch development bank that supports sustainable private sector growth in developing and emerging markets by investing in ambitious entrepreneurs.
FMO focuses on three sectors that have high development impact and these are the financial institutions, energy, and agribusinesses, with emphasis on food and water.
FMO is one of the largest European bilateral private sector development banks.
