A microfinance bank operator, Mr Eniola Agbesoyin, on Tuesday, commended the CBN and the CIBN for instituting a training programme for operators of microfinance banks.

Agbesoyin, who is the Managing Director of Olive Microfinance Bank, told newsmen in Lagos that the annual programme had improved efficiency of managers in the sub-sector.

He said that about 1,058 managers of microfinance institutions in the country had benefited from the programme since inception in May, 2010.

Agbesoyin said that the managers were trained on the various aspects of financial management and this had impacted on their abilities.

“The knowledge acquired from this capacity building has helped to inject fresh ideas in the running of microfinance institutions in the country.

“Before now, running of microfinance was challenging; the operators ran them like commercial and community banks,” he said.

Agbesoyin said that lack of trained hands had been a critical challenge to the growth of the sub-sector since its introduction in 2005.

He said that the training programme had also rekindled customers’ confidence in microfinance institutions.

Agbesoyin said that the idea behind the introduction of the bank was to provide viable platform for the active poor to access loans for small businesses.

“Customers are beginning to have confidence in the operations of microfinance banks unlike in the past.

“Capacity building has also brought about stability in the microfinance sub-sector,” he said.

Agbesoyin said that a couple of managers had travelled to other parts of the world to update their knowledge in the management of microfinance business.

He urged the operators to impact their knowledge on their workers in order to build a vibrant microfinance sub-sector.