[size=15pt]‘Nigerian men don’t repay loans’ [/size]
By Olamilekan Lartey, Yenagoa
Published: Saturday, 16 Aug 2008
The Managing Director of Bayelsa State’s only micro-finance institution, Homeland Microfinance Bank, Mr. Austin Dressman, on Friday said that many Nigerian men were not ready to repay bank loans.

Dressman, who spoke in Yenagoa, said statistics had shown a discouraging repayment pattern among male borrowers, adding that only about 30-40 per cent of Nigerian men repay loans on schedule. He stated that over 90 per cent of people who seek small loans in Nigeria were women, adding that they were more likely to repay loans. He said the bank had therefore decided to target women for micro-credit loans.

The scheme, which is run in partnership with the Bayelsa State Government, will make loans available to women in the 105 wards of the state. Specifically, women in the rural areas, particularly those in the riverside communities, will have access to loans ranging between N20, 000 and N200,000 without collateral or rigorous documentation associated with commercial banks.

He said, “We have to move down to the grassroots and create awareness. There is nowhere we cannot reach in doing business, even places as far away as Akassa. The Central Bank of Nigeria is encouraging people to do microfinance.” He said over 80 per cent of Nigerians relied on microfinance for business and other economic empowerment projects.

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