Baobab begins aggressive campaign to grow Nigeria’s market

To expand coverage to 12 states next year

Baobab, a francophone Africa-focused micro-lender, has commenced an aggressive campaign to increase its operations in Nigeria, which it sees as a very strategic market.

Currently in nine states, the microfinance bank intends to sign-up three additional branches in the southeast and Port Harcourt this year and raised the figure next year when it intends to open more branches in the northwest where it started 13 years ago.

Where it cannot reach with a physical presence, its Baobab Group Chief Executive Officer, Philip Sigwart, said at a media session at the weekend, the bank will leverage through its fast-growing digital platform.

This year alone, the bank said it has reached out to 45,000 customers through the digital channel. Its yearly lending is estimated at N5 billion, which is extended to 5,000 micro businesses.

“We want to support growth. About 15 per cent of our customers transition to small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) every year. Our ultimate goal is to support businesses to grow so we are fine if they grow and move on to big banks, Sigwart said.

According to him, Nigeria currently accounts for 10 per cent of the bank’s balance sheet estimated at $750 million and a customer base of 500,000 across seven African countries.

“We focus on Francophone countries but decided to operate in Nigeria as a flagship market for a strategic reason. And we believe we can achieve much more than we have done because there is huge demand,” the CEO said.

Côte d’Ivoire is Baobab’s biggest market while Senegal comes second. But its CEO hopes Nigeria would catch and possibly overtake other markets soon as the banks become increasingly interested in the local market. He added that his team would also tap agent banking in its long-term goal of transforming into a national player.

Baobab Nigeria CEO, Dr. Kazeem Olarewaju, said its altruist goal is ensuring that everybody has something to gain from the operation of the French-origin lending institution. He said the bank would increase its yearly loan disbursement to about N10 billion in the next two years even as it deepens its engagement with the market.