It is my pleasure to update you on a major
revision of our interest rates. Till recently LAPO had been charging its
borrowers 3%/month flat on the loan amount. We are well aware that while
compared with other MFIs' rates in
Nigeria, this rate is on the lower
end, it is still on an absolute basis quite high. This topic has surfaced time
and again in our dialogue with various stakeholders. We had always explained
that the sole aim for which we were required to charge such rates was to build
up accumulated surplus to meet the capital requirement for transformation into
a regulated microfinance bank. This is so, as LAPO is a non-profit organization
which does not have any private equity interest. Now that we have achieved this
objective decided to reduce interest rates to 2.5%/month flat in the first instance with effective from October
19, 2009.LAPO's philosophy has always
been to improve the condition of our members and in line with that we have
rolled out this downward revision of the rates charged to our borrowers in a
time when our own borrowing costs are going up significantly.
We would like to
thank partners for their support and understanding which enabled us to reach a
position of financial stability, which in turn is now allowing us to pass on
the benefit to our thousands of borrowers.
We publish several publications. Download them here