Stanley Nkwazema
small. A bank is a bank and since Nigeria has chosen to do the banking model of micro finance business, Nigeria has to come out and make microfinance bank banks. When you are a bank, you do what a bank does. What distinguishes you fr om a commercial bank or what the CBN named deposit money banks is that you ar e limited to the size of transactions you can do. But if you ar e a bank, you should do everything that a bank is doing – savings, loans. Customers at the SME level would need small forex like $5000 to $10,000. So, microfinance banks should be able to trade in foreign exchange. The challenge is that commercial banks can trade in bonds, treasury bills, foreign exchange and several other instruments. Access to credit has reduced because commercial banks have stopped lending money to the sectors that need money even more. The only thing we can do to survive is lend money primarily. All other services become add-ons. It is not so in commercial banks because other services are primary and so they can survive, make money without lending money to the MSME sector that tr uly needs it. I think something has to change about the model to strengthen microfinance banks because we are better positioned. I do not see any other institutional arrangement that drives financial inclusion better than the microfinance banks.
Success, a moving target
Success is a journey that never ends and saying that you are satisfied means you have arrived. From that perspective, I will say no, I am not satisfied because the poor masses of this country have not been fully reached. I am not satisfied because financial inclusion is still very low. I am not satisfied because the funding gap to reach the SME sector still r uns into trillions of naira. I cannot be satisfied because the problems have not been solved. Yes, we have come a long way and in ten years, we have a beautiful story to tell. But I am not satisfied because there is still a lot of work to be done. Am I ready to do this work? Yes, as I exit as Managing Director of HASAL after ten years, I will still be very committed and r elevant to the SME sector and ensur e that access to finance is guaranteed to the microfinance banks.