MFBs wanted to be listed on NSE

Speaking in Lagos during the listing by Introduction of 1,630,091,000 Ordinary Shares of 50 kobo each of Fortis Microfinance Bank, Onyema said some of the difficulties microfinance banks currently face is having their shares listed on the exchange. Some of the problems include lack of adequate skills set by operators for effective service delivery; lack […]

Speaking in Lagos during the listing by Introduction of 1,630,091,000 Ordinary Shares of 50 kobo each of Fortis Microfinance Bank, Onyema said some of the difficulties microfinance banks currently face is having their shares listed on the exchange.

Some of the problems include lack of adequate skills set by operators for effective service delivery; lack of proper corporate governance and management structure, inefficient internal controls and poor credit administration; and, lack of adequate capital base leading to insufficient loanable funds.

He said NPF Microfinance Bank that listed on the 1st of December 2010 with 2.3bn Ordinary Shares of 50k each at N1.50 per share has been doing well.

The listing, he said added N3.43billion to the market capitalization of the exchange.

“We are quite glad to report that the other MFB listed on the exchange

has consistently paid dividends on a yearly basis and despite the tough economic circumstances and the equally tough banking sector in which they are listed, they have continued to outperform some established commercial banks”, he said Onyema said the listing Fortis Microfinance bank’s shares would add N8.15 billion to the market capitalization of the exchange while it would also increase the visibility of the MFB and differentiate it as one with high corporate governance standards, having met NSE listing criteria.

He said with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s capitalisation requirement, NSE expects  to see an increase in the number of MFBs listing.