Registered microfinance banks in the country, which have been operating under two umbrellas, have decided to bury their differences and forge ahead under one association.

This followed a meeting of the two factions the National Association of Microfinance Banks in Nigeria in Lagos recently.

They are now to be called the National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB) with a caretaker committee put in place to organise election in January 2010.

The caretaker committee is headed by Chief Mathias Omeh, Chairman of Nsukka Microfinance Bank, and also has Barrister Jude Nosagie, managing director Prosperity Microfinance Bank Benin Mrs Bunmi Lawson, managing director of Accion Lagos, as members.

Operators, who spoke on the reunion, said it is a landmark development which is also in the best interest of operators, as they would now be able to address knotty issues confronting the country’s microfinance sector as a united entity.

In his acceptance speech, Omeh, the caretaker chairman, promised that the caretaker committee would not stay a day longer than the January 29, 2010 deadline give it to conduct an election. He described the coming together as a big success, saying it is one thing they have earnestly looked forward to, and that delegates were happy at the outcome of the meeting.

“We are all happy that the meeting succeeded. In fact, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has challenged us to prepare for our AGM in January”, Omeh said.

He said the challenges facing mega banks at their level, and bemoaned the fact that over 65 per cent of Nigerian population do not have access to the services provided by mega banks.

This, he said, places a responsibility on the MFBs to reach this percentage both in the urban and rural areas.

He said aside the challenge of infrastructure, MFBs also have to contend with capacity challenges and are expected to package and deliver beneficial pro-poor products.

Mrs Bunmi Lawson, managing director of Accion who is also a member of the new caretaker committee also described the meeting as a landmark, adding that Nigerians would soon begin to see the fruit manifest.

She said one area the association would focus on now is the area of capacity building, adding it is key to the survival of the sector.

“Part of what the association would need to do next is to assist MFBs in capacity building. We intend to raise a pool of funds to be able to tackle this” she said.

Lawson asserted that if the infrastructure problem in the country is addressed, MFBs would have more funds and the poor would be able to feel their impact.

“The issue of liquidity is hampering the operations of MFBs, and we have limited options to increasing liquidity, what remains is for MFBs to build up that confidence to attract more funding. That is why the association we have formed today is very imperative,” she said.

The coming of the federal government’s microfinance policy, not only created room for new MFBs to come on stream but also mandated existing community banks to convert to MFBs.