The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) says it will reward top MicroFinance Banks (MFBs) in loan recovery under the One Local Government One Product (OLOP) scheme.
The Director-General of SMEDAN, Mr Charles Odii, said this during the Stakeholders Meeting/Signing of Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on the implementation of the programme on Tuesday in Abuja.
The OLOP scheme is a bottom-top approach designed to promote Micro Small and Medium Enterprises development in communities by focusing on products distinctive to each locality where they have comparative advantage, and cultivating the same through value-addition into a national and global brand.
He said the aim of the meeting was to encourage MFBs and their representatives to take loan recovery seriously for economic growth and development.
Odii who acknowledged the importance of MFBs for the growth of small businesses urged the managers to embrace innovative ways of loan recovery.
”I want you all to go with this assignment. Look for innovative ways of collecting that money back, and in innovative ways, I don’t want you to harass the small businesses.
”But we will start tracking, the sooner we get results we will take it up and continue to develop on it.
”So monitor, and even evaluate the process and I am very certain that at the end of it all we will come back here smiling.
”I am going to promise you this, we are going to continue this dialogue; and I’m going to set up a reward system for the top performing banks,” he said.
The director-general commended some of the banks that were already performing well and urged others to take a queue from them.
He said: ”It is not enough to be partners if we cannot once in a while be frank about the situation on ground and we cannot achieve our purpose without everyone’s commitment.
”That is why I have given you that charge to please go and deliver your duties to the best of your abilities.
”And we will be visiting some of the states to see first hand how you are working.”
Speaking on behalf of other representatives, Mr Abdullahi Umar, Hamada MFB Kaduna, assured the director-general that they would continue to put in their best and ensure recovery of the loans.
“One of the major challenges is the mindset of the people, who think the loan is their share of the ”national cake,” Umar said.
He called for enhanced collaboration between SMEDAN and MFBs managers and meetings where all parties would deliberate on issues.
Umar also enjoined the agency to ameliorate the cost incurred by MFBs in loan recovery.
(NAN)