Rivers Microfinance disburses N800m to 1,387 SMEs

The Rivers State Microfinance Agency (RIMA) has disbursed N800 million to 1,387 businesses in the state, as part of a N4 billion loan scheme initiated by Governor Siminalayi Fubara to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to stimulate economic growth, and empower entrepreneurs to create jobs.

The loan scheme, christened: “Touching Lives and Creating Wealth” programme, is a N4 billion loan facility in partnership with the Bank of Industries (BOI).
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of RIMA, Pastor Jonathan Tobin, who spoke during a press briefing to give a breakdown of the progress of the programme, said the agency has a database of over 4,000 profiled businesses.

Tobin noted that the agency has completed four tranches of N200 million each for businesses seeking loans from N1000 to N1 million, adding that the disbursement process is done on a first-come, first-served basis, ensuring fairness and transparency.

According to him, a breakdown of disbursements had 381 beneficiaries received the first tranche of N200 million after their names and particulars were forwarded to the BoI for due diligence and in turn, the bank disbursed N200 million per tranche to the agency, which the agency thereof disbursed N50 million per batch to microfinance banks for onward disbursement.

He added that a total of N800 million had been disbursed to1,387 businesses, explaining that 818 female borrowers borrowed N469.5 million, about 58.7 per cent of the sum and 569 male borrowers, which was 41 per cent, got N330.5 million as 13 persons living with disabilities got N8.55 million.

The Agency’s MD gave the breakdown of disbursement as first tranche: 381 beneficiaries, N199.8 million; second tranche, 312 beneficiaries, N199.95 million; third tranche, 354 beneficiaries, N199.9 million and fourth tranche, 340 beneficiaries.

He further disclosed that the loans spread across 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs), except for some flashpoint areas where officials of the Agency cannot gain access to evaluate businesses. He added that members from ministry, department, and agency are included in the scheme.

In terms of loan repayment, Tobin said the agency had received a payment of N75.658 million so far, with interest payments of N3.647 million. He however, noted that for customers seeking to access more than N10 million and above, the agency after profiling them, sends them to BOI, which takes up the remaining procedure of the requirements, adding that so far the BOI has disbursed to eight applicants and that another tranche of 17 applicants would soon get the funding.

He said: “BOI has disbursed to eight customers valued at N119,888,000. Another 17 customers are due for disbursement. By next week, the 17 customers valued at N217, 444,858,000 would have been disbursed.”

Meanwhile, Tobin said the agency has also detected a significant number of fraudulent applications, with 1,600 cases of impersonation identified.