Microfinance has been practiced in various forms for centuries, and Nigeria is not an exception. Then, borrowers gave up their children (or valuable possession) as collateral to work for the lender until they’re able to pay back the loan. However, this no longer exists.
Then came Professor Muhammad Yunus in the mid-70s. He is regarded as the father of modern microfinance, not because he is the first to initiate it but simply because he is the first person to systematize it. Today, microfinance is considered as the most important intermediation strategy to reduce poverty. Professor Yunus became aware of how a small loan could make a significant impact to the poor when he loaned US$ 27 to a woman, from his native home in Bangladesh, who made bamboo furniture. He was impressed by how she was able to utilize this money to support her family and improve her business. He later set up the Grameen Bank, the pioneer MFI, in 1976 to make small loans to poor Bangladeshis.
Initially, there wouldn’t have been any need for the development of microfinance if not for the mindset of its beneficiaries placed in the hearts of microfinance service providers. Many MFIs, MFBs, loan lenders and socially conscious people all around the world chose to come into play in order to help its beneficiaries break out of “below the pyramid” status, either with a positive or negative intent.
Women constitute a majority of loan beneficiaries in Nigeria, even in the World at large. At least, 90% of all microfinance loans are made to women because not only do they engage in projects that benefits their entire family, they are also assumed to have this natural tendency of repaying their loan obligations promptly. Most beneficiaries are grouped with an average of 10 people (i.e. more or less as the case may be). The idea of solidarity grouping is a system initiated by Grameen as members of the groups act as guarantors for the repayment of loan; a good check against loan defaults. Each member of the group act based on trust because they are liable to one another.
Presently, there are about 850,000 active borrowers in Nigeria as reported by MIX Market. The Central Bank of Nigeria estimates that, not less than 35 million poor Nigerians still require microfinance service.
I have been privileged to meet with over 30 groups of microfinance beneficiaries across different states in Nigeria. Just recently, I decided to carry out an impact assessment survey of microfinance in Dakingari, a suburb and poverty stricken area in Kebbi, the Northern part of Nigeria. There, I met with a man who caught most of my attention due to the transformation in his life just with a little support coupled with his zeal to be successful in life.
Shuaib Ahmed, a-56-year-old man born into a poor family of 9 children in Dakingari. The father had two wives. Shuaib, the 4th born in his family, never had the opportunity to go to school because his parents did not have the means and then, little attention was paid to education because there was virtually no formal means of acquiring education in that locality. They had no school nearby. His parent major means of livelihood was farming which was not even favourable due to the harsh weather in the Northern part of the country.
There was no pathway for him to trace, no way established to where he was hoping to go. He took a bold step to learn furniture making from a neighbour who makes furniture. He was just keen to learn something. He would go and assist with carrying planks, woods, and other materials used in making furniture but kept his eye on the processes involved. Gradually, he started practicising from the left over planks and other materials which were considered useless and did make domestic furniture for his home. He kept learning and improving by the day.
Two years later, he had an opportunity of making a single office chair for a savings collector. He used the profit he made to make another office chair and advertized this in front of their home. Within a week, he sold this chair, used the proceeds to make more furniture. That same year, he received support from his first customer who was a savings collector. He was loaned 20 Naira (US$ 34) and used it to expand his business. From that point, the rest became history.
Currently, he has built a house for himself and his family and also has 4 branches of furniture making shops around his locality where he has 24 other young people on his payroll who are also working for themselves. His four children are in schools with the first born serving as a National Youth Corper in Enugu, the Eastern part of Nigeria. The National Youth Corps is a mandatory scheme for graduates from any higher learning institution in the country. He also sponsors most of his siblings’ children.
It is immeasurable how far a little loan could positively impact the lives of those below the pyramid. Microfinance service providers need not be too risk averse, only if they have the sympathy for the poor.
