Baobab MFB plans investment in technology to boost customers business

Baobab Microfinance Limited is planning to invest more in technology to enhance the businesses of its customers across the country.

In addition to investing in new technology, the bank is also focusing on enhancing its capacity building, getting more equipment and more applications that can support the business of its customers.

This is coming as the bank is working on improving on its existing financial technology (fintech) to provide more channels for seamless transactions by its customers.

Kazeem Olanrewaju, managing director/CEO, disclosed this to BusinessDay on the sideline of 2021 annual customer forum organised by the bank in Lagos.

“The response time is one of the areas where we need to work on. Business is driven by technology. We will be doing more investment in technology, training the people, getting more equipment and getting more applications that can support the business of our customers,” he said.

Olanrewaju disclosed the bank’s plans to sources for cheap funds in order to reduce interest rates. The bank would achieve this through encouraging more usage of current and savings accounts.

“What we try to emphasise more now is getting more current and savings accounts, which is called CASA. That could be cheaper than a fixed deposit. The second is to improve our image in the public because today the number of working customers that we have is limited.

“We believe that if we are able to advertise more, do a lot of media promotions then you will see more working customers who will come and open accounts with us and give us funds. The third one will be to look at our borrowings to see cheaper ones. It is going to be a deliberate effort to select a cheap source of funds. That means that of all the options that we have, once your fund is expensive, we will not take it,” he said.

Adebowole Aworinde Johnson, who is into events and fashion, is one of the bank’s customers from Sabo branch. He said, “I have been with Baobab for three years now and it has been awesome being with them. I started with about N150,000 but now we are doing millions and it has been wonderful. The interest rate is cool to me but if they can improve on it, it will be a plus. It will be good if they improve on internet banking. Baobab is moving on a greater height and my wish is that they get to the top of glory in life. I congratulate Baobab for this event today.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.