CBAN Bemoans Low Access to Credit

Micro, small and medium scale businesses (MSMEs) and individuals in the country are constantly faced with difficulties in accessing credits from financial institutions to either grow their businesses or improve their livelihood, despite the country’s huge population.

The Chairman, Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria (CBAN) and Managing Director of CRC Credit Bureau, Mr. Tunde Popoola, disclosed this in Lagos, at the fifth National Credit Reporting Conference,

with the theme: ‘Expanding the Frontiers of Access to Credit in Nigeria.’ He said only less than 15 million persons/entities had enjoyed at least one form of credit from formal banking institutions, despite the country’s population of over 190 million people.

Popoola revealed that the entire bank loans to consumers at any given time in a month, was always less than N1trillion.

He said, “Each of the three licenced credit bureau today has an average repository of about 20 million records of credit data from institutions across various sectors of the economy including but not limited to commercial banks, microfinance banks, mortgage banks, retailers, cooperatives, finance companies, leasing companies, etc.

“In view of this phenomenon, credit bureau coverage remains low in Nigeria at eight per cent, compared with 64 per cent in South Africa, 25 per cent in Egypt, and 17 per cent in Ghana. “We need to urgently change the narrative of credit concentration and increase access to credit.” Popoola, explained that credit reporting expands access to finance, especially for consumers and MSMEs and plays a key role in improving the competitiveness and efficiency of credit granting institutions by reducing credit processing costs and time.