Bank to champion sustainable financing

LAPO Microfinance Bank Limited has restated its commitment to supporting sustainable financing amid low adoption globally.

The adoption of sustainable banking principles banks, discount houses (merchant banks) and development finance institution was approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in agreement with the Bankers Committee in 2012.

It is to deliver positive development impacts to the society while protecting the communities and environments in which by financial institutions and their clients operate.

The Managing Director of LAPO, Godwin Ehigiamusoe, stated this at the bank’s conference in Lagos recently. He said the conference promoted the practice of sustainable finance and banking values especially among microfinance banks.

“The microfinance industry is growing. Having a large number of institutions and also considering the nature of their clients who are obviously active on the environment, I feel there is need for microfinance banks to adopt some of these principles as LAPO has done for the past six years,” Ehigiamusoe said.

The Executive Director, Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV), Mr. Marcos Eguiguren, said, “It is a great milestone for Nigeria to have a bank such as LAPO organising a conference on sustainable finance especially with a focus on the microfinance industry. That is why we are supporting this.”

On efforts by subSaharan Africa, he said, Nigeria is a trail blazer in promoting sustainable finance, adding “Nigeria and Kenya are leading other countries in terms of scaling quickly from mainstream banking to sustainable finance. I feel the momentum in this part of the world is very high.”