NIRSAL Micro Finance Bank (NMFB) has refuted claims that it denied loans to 100,000 applicants from Anambra State under the Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
To save the scheme from abuse, NMFB has barred Entrepreneurial Development Institutions (EDIs), from charging applicants of the Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) extra cost for generating business plans.
The refusal of some applicants from Anambra State to pay the extra cost, it was alleged, led to 100,000 applicants from the state being shut out from accessing the AGSMEIS loan.
Reacting to the allegation, NMFB, in a statement at the weekend, said: “Business plan, which is automatically generated on the portal, has two options – a free application and another that cost N5,000. Applicants have the liberty to use any of the two business plan options. No EDI has the right to charge extra cost.”
NMFB denied the allegation that it conspired with some EDIs to extort money from applicants with the promise to grant them approvals for their loan requests.
According to NMFB, “this accusation is not only spurious, but also unfounded, as NMFB frowns at any form of unethical practice or unprofessional conduct, which contravenes our policy and core values.”
At the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele disclosed that the microfinance bank had disbursed “N121.57billion to 32,617.”
Corroborating this, NMFB said the beneficiaries of the Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) “are from across the six geo-political zones in the country with emphasis on even spread.”
The bank described as malicious, “narrative that applicants from the Southeast are marginalised under this scheme.”
The process of selecting successful applicants, the bank added, “is not only transparent but also ensures that successful applicants are Nigerians, who are well experienced in their line of business and have met the criteria set out for lending.”
Applicants, who were recently sent a decline application message because of their inability to meet NMFB set current risk assessment criteria, have been urged to “re-apply with a business plan tailored to the new maximum of N3million threshold at no cost to them.”
Applicants for the AGSMEIS facility have been reminded that it is not a grant, but a loan that will be repaid.
