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MICROFINANCE AND POVERTY ALLEVIATIONEcobank
is committed to playing a leading role in providing financial services to poor
and low-income but economically active micro and small enterprises in
Africa. While the sector remains very important to the growth and development
of Africa as it employs most Africans and is
the bed-rock of national economies, the key challenge remains lack of access to
financial services.
Ecobank has a dual objective in serving this market.
The market is largely un-tapped and has tremendous potentials and so it
presents a business growth opportunity for the bank while it also offers a
significant platform to empower African entrepreneurs to upscale their
operations, expand income generation and pull themselves out of poverty.
To pursue the vision the bank and its partner, Accion International, a
global leader in microfinance, are working to establish microfinance banks
across Africa with a plan to launch operations
in 20 countries by 2012. The bank, Accion and other partners launched one of
the biggest microfinance banks in Nigeria
in 2007, launched another bank in Ghana in 2008 and have a plan to
increase the footprint to 8 countries in 2009.
To complement the
direct retail approach, Ecobank also acts as bankers to microfinance
institutions in the countries in which it operates. We presently support over
250 microfinance institutions with wholesale loans and other products in a
manner that deepens their capacity to expand delivery of services to their
customers
We believe the
prospects remain very bright for the microfinance sector which is arguably as
large as or even larger than the traditional banking sector.
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