Business
RUFIN Distributes Computers To Micro Finance Banks
The Rural Finance Institution Building Programme (RUFIN) in Abuja distributed computers and accessories to 33 participating Micro Finance Banks (MFBs) registered under the programme.
RUFIN is being financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a Rome-based UN agency. Dr Ben Odoemena, the IFAD Country Programme Officer, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen at the 2011 Financial Linkage Forum for stakeholders organised by RUFIN in Abuja on Monday. Odoemena said that the equipment were provided to enable the financial institutions to do their jobs effectively and enhance farmers’ productivity. He said the gesture was one of the RUFINs strategies to meet its objective of developing and strengthening the capacities of MFBs and other non-bank micro finance institutions.
According to him, the equipment would also enhance the access of the rural poor to sustainable financial services and enable RUFIN to achieve its goal of being a “one-stop” location for information and knowledge on issues relating to micro finance in Nigeria.
It would also facilitate a robust cash management system that would ensure liquidity of agents, the country programme officer further said. He said that RUFIN had also facilitated the formation of apex organisations for both Micro Finance Banks (MFBs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) in the country, to promote the sustainability of the programme.
He firther noted that RUFIN, in conjunction with the CBN, had developed a curriculum on capacity building for MFBs in the country, to ensure that products from licenced operators were made available to the CBN.
He commended RUFIN for the various activities it had executed since inception in 2010, adding that it had exceeded the set target.