Where we work

South Asia

East and Southeast Asia

Latin America / Caribbean

Middle East / North Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa
• Cameroon
• Ethiopia
• Ghana
• Nigeria
◦ DEC
    ◦ LAPO
    ◦ SEAP
    ◦ Eje Okpu's Story
    ◦ Riskatu's Story
• Rwanda
• Uganda

United States

Grameen Foundation : Where we work : Sub-Saharan Africa : Nigeria

Nigeria

The Need in Nigeria

• The life expectancy is 44 years old
  
• The adult literacy rate is 69.1 percent
  
• 92.4 percent of the population live on less than $2 a day
  
• More than 4 million people live with HIV/AIDS
  

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, and 70 percent of Nigerians live below the poverty line. Despite a wealth of human and natural resources, Nigeria’s economy has remained largely based on petroleum. The agricultural sector has failed to keep up with rapid population growth, and the nation has become a food importer.
The Central Bank of Nigeria calculates that only 65 percent of Nigerians have access to the formal financial sector. The demand for microfinance is very high, due to the limited number of NGO providers in rural areas. It is expected that the 2005 Microfinance Policy and Supervisory Framework will encourage the rapid development of small enterprises and microfinance. The new policy will allow the microfinance sector to be better monitored by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the government has also put in place microfinance-friendly programs to boost the sector.

Since 2003, Grameen Foundation has been supporting the Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) and has also provided ongoing support to the Central Bank of Nigeria to help build its internal capacity and microfinance knowledge. As part of our Africa Initiative launched in 2007, Grameen Foundation has recently partnered with two Nigerian microfinance institutions: Self Reliance Economic Advancement Programme (SEAP) and Development Exchange Centre (DEC).

LAPO is one of Nigeria’s largest microfinance institutions, and its growth and success are due in part to a three-year, $1.3 million grant from USAID managed by Grameen Foundation. The 2003 grant has helped strengthen LAPO’s operations and increase their outreach. Grameen Foundation’s technical assistance has helped improve LAPO’s financial controls, reduce delinquencies, implement automated MIS at all of its branches, and foster timely and accurate reporting. LAPO’s transformation and expanded capacity puts the organization on a solid trajectory to meet their goal of reaching 225,560 clients by 2008.

As part of Grameen Foundation’s Africa strategy, DEC was identified as a partner institution with significant potential for growth. Grameen Foundation provides financing and technical assistance for DEC that focuses on strengthening operations, MIS and internal control systems to help the institution achieve its growth objectives in a sustainable way.

The Grameen Foundation - SEAP collaboration will include support through financing, development, business planning and strategic management, and MIS assistance to help SEAP achieve its goal of transforming into a microfinance bank.

Learn more about LAPO >
Learn more about SEAP >
Learn more about DEC >

Client Story: Eje Okpu

Grameen Foundation : Where we work : Sub-Saharan Africa : Nigeria