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  • Business - Banking & Finance
  • Updated: January 02, 2023

Microfinance Banks Major Driving Force For Businesses, Investments In 2022 — Expert

Microfinance Banks Major Driving Force For Businesses, Inves

Abdulateef Husseni, a financial expert, has revealed that microfinance banks were the major driving force for financial investments in Nigeria in 2022.

Husseni made this known during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

Husseni said this was based on the data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which recognised the banks as the driving force for businesses, especially Small Scales and Medium Enterprises.

“Available information has shown that local industries depend on this financial institutions to the tune of about 60 per cent of financial investments which now insure economic development of the country.

“Microfinance banks in Nigeria recorded an 82 per cent boost in lending rising from N300.2 billion in 2019 to N546.6 billion in 2020.

"This is according to the latest data from the NBS.

“Also, an interesting observation to be made is the impact total lending to the private sector alone as it increased by 18.5 per cent (N5.58 trillion) year-on-year to N35.73 trillion in December 2021, up from N30.15 trillion in 2020,” he said.

Husseni said that microfinance institutions were the fuel which helped to drive other sectors to success in 2022.

He stated that the increase in the private sector lending was supported by the growth of business activities of FinTech and technology based companies.

“And this aforementioned is why microfinance bank should have not given credit for the economic development as a whole in Nigeria,” he said.

However, Husseni, called for a more well-developed financial system in the country to foster an open and vibrant economic system that would build a sustained economic growth.

“It is a well-established fact that financial institutions played a vital role in the development of any economy and serves as lubricant for the survival of an economy.

“Countries with well-developed financial institutions tend to grow faster; especially the size of the banking system and the liquidity of the stock markets, tend to have strong positive impact on economic growth.

“In spite absence of all of this, it is imperative to know that the industry in Nigeria is still a strong growing industry, yet the banking sector alone contributes up to N168.4 trillion to the country’s gross domestic product between 2017 and 2020.

“This is indicating an incredible resilience and growth despite two difficult recessions in the country,” he said.

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