BOP LAPO (IFC-45304)

Countries
  • Nigeria
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Active
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
C
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Jun 22, 2021
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
LAPO MICROFINANCE BANK LTD
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 8.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 8.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Jun 14, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Jun 9, 2021

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

The proposed investment consists of a three-year senior loan to LAPO Microfinance Bank (“LAPO MFB”), a long-standing IFC client, under the IFC Fast Track COVID-19 Facility's Base of the Pyramid Program (BOP Program). The BOP Program aims to help LAPO MFB provide much-needed local currency funding to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The IDA PSW Blended Finance Facility is supporting the project.

People Affected By This Project
People Affected By This Project refers to the communities of people likely to be affected positively or negatively by a project.

The project will help provide financing to microenterprises in Nigeria. The most significant expected project-level outcome for the project is access to finance for microenterprises to support economic activity and resilience in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. Beyond the project outcome, IFC anticipates that the Project will support resilience amongst microfinance and BOP finance providers catalyzing investments in the sector by demonstrating the viability of lending to BOP providers and crowding in other sources of international and domestic finance in support of these lenders.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

According to the IFC, the project involves a 3-year, senior secured loan of up to US$8 million denominated in Nigerian Naira (“NGN”) from IFC’s own account. The project will be processed under IFC’s COVID Base of Pyramid Facility.

Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

According to the, LAPO was established as a non-for-profit organization (“LAPO NGO”) in 1987 in Benin City, Nigeria and over time has diversified into a variety of subsidiaries that are for-profit and non-for-profit. In 2010, LAPO MFB obtained approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (“CBN”) to operate a regulated microfinance bank and was re-licensed as a national microfinance bank in 2012 in line with the new microfinance banking model introduced in the country by CBN in 2011. LAPO MFB is currently Nigeria’s largest microfinance institution, with more than 4 million customers and controlling a market share of 13% of total microfinance industry loans as of December 2020.

LAPO MFB’s activities are strategically targeted at Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (“MSMEs”), particularly women micro enterprises owners, who are served on a group basis. LAPO MFB seeks to improve the lives of the population at the bottom of the pyramid by providing life changing business capital in the form of loans that has helped to move thousands of Nigerians out of poverty. LAPO MFB is largely owned by two shareholders: LAPO NGO; and Dr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe (the founder and former Managing Director).    


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

LAPO Microfinance Bank Limited
Obaroakpo Akiri
Head, Treasury and Creditors Relationship Management
+2348037311822
obaroakpo.akiri@lapo-nigeria.org

 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

How it works

How it works