22
Vanguard. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2012
FinancialVanguard
Banking & Finance
-~~ BRIEE New set of winners emerge In Ecobank Win Big promo A not her set of winners
./'""\ha\'e emerged in the Ecobank 路Win Big " promo (ollowing the second draw that held in Port Harcourt with Mn Josephine Njide.ka Nwafor from Old Market Road, Oruu:ha winrung the star prize of a brand new NlSsan salon car. Unlike the first draw which held 1n Lagos last month. all the winnen; emerged from the
South East and Soulh South ZOD~
The other ....'lnners
indude Dr. Ibadin Oko@guale
Michael, a customer from Uselu Road In Benin and Nkamigbo Chiedozie
From lett; Mrs Bola Adesola. MD, Standard Chartered Bonk.. Nigeria; Mr Richard Medding5. Group Finance Director, Standard Chartered Bank; Chiel JO!Ieph Sanlai, Chairman and Mr Jegede Poul. Group Managing Director, JapouJ Group at a Corporate dinner lor the \<iaiting Group Finance Director and clients 01 the bank in Logos. Pho to by La..midi BamiMle.
V41enUne of Factory Road
Branch, Aba_ Both won 2.Sh.'VA Generators. while EzeoblOUl Joseph (Obollo Afor) and Nwaobasl Mathew (Ezza Road) were winners of respective 2.5 KVA
generators TWo Blackberry pbones went to Ezera Rumond (Umuabia) and Nkereuwem Joseph (Okporo Road, Port Harcourt) SpeakIng at the event, Ecobank ExecuUve Director, Domesllc Bank, Kingsley Aigbokbaevbo, who was represented by Funwa Akinmade, Head 01 Domestic Products encouraged Nigerians to open accounts with Ecobank and also en}OLDed exlSting custom~ to increase thetr depm;lts to the ~ monthlyN20,OOO and automaucally quahfy for a chance to WlO in the draWl aheast as "Thu IS a big opponunity to ,\\I"m Big' ". Akiornade disclosed that Ecobank has earmarked lour monthly draws for the promo to appreaate customers and help them enjoy the benefits of mamtauung a good 5avmgs culture, addIng that, "Each draw takes us closer to the lst pnz~ a Sports Utility Vehicle {SUV} to be won m the Grand Finale WhlCh comes up 10 Decm1bet." He reiterated that the promo 11 " Ecobank's way of saying thank you to all her customers and stalteholdexs as wdl as ensure that Nigerians enJoy their rewards even before the end 01 the promo m December" Accordingly, Adekoya BolanIe Omotunde of the Nauona] Lottery Regulatory CommisSion, AbuJa disclosed that the transparency of the draws as well as the elatlon m the VOice of the wmners as they rec~ved unexpected caUs confirming them as wumers 11 very insplrUlg. To her; "~ple should not let the opponurutr ottered m the Win Big promo to pass them by." She assured that the ComDllSSlon is concerned that consumen reap the benefits of good Ulvestments.
FG decries poor bank lending to fanners ByCI-IINEDU IBEABUCH
'T"he Federal Government
~ bas lamented low funding of the agncultural sector by banks 10 the country. Del.Ivenng a keynote lecture at the Chartered InsUtute of Bankers of Nigeria 2012 Annual Lecture, Mmister 01 Agriculture and Rural Development , Dr. Akinwuml Adesina said banks need to take a proactive step to cost
eUecuve irutiatlves. He SIIld banb ought to diversify their current agricultural portfolio to effectIvely meet the needs of the sector, addlDg that the current lending 10 agriculture u heavlly skewed to agribusinesses, while smallholder farmers, commercial farmers and other small and medium size enterprises are unable to access affordable financing He lamented that for these
small bolder farmers and SMEs and indeed all oth~ actors m the sector, the cribcal issue is the extremely rugh interest rates. He saul. 1"he UlDe has come for Nigena to COlUlder talSing long term bonds to finance the agricultural sector. The nslOg domesbc debt IS certamly of concern However, this should not be used to argue agamsl agnculture bonds Many countries in the world are usmg the 50 called green
bonds to power their agnculture, rncludmg China and Inwa "AMCON has over 3 tnllion NiUJ'a in funds . Pension funds haY!! bilhons of Nalta lOOking for sound mvestments . As we modernize agnculture and ralSe profitability in the sector through well-coordinated agricultural value chains, AMCON and Pension funds can buy agncultural bonds to further diverSIfy their portfollos and proVlde access to lower lDterest and long term finanang for the sector Development Flnance I.nsbtubons can also finance long term bonds lor agnculture. "Wllh cbanging weather patterns , we must now develop poliCies for protecbng fanners from the impacts of cltmate change, especiaUy droughts and floods . We must manage these ruts. We need 10 scale up weather-index crop Insurance schemes for
rann ...
"Area-based flood msuranO! schemes must be put IJ1 place 10 ensure disaster payments to fannen and communilles from Doods and droughts that occur over vast areas and weu beyond lDdlVlduai farmen ." He noted that banks should do more than talking as they need to rethink their comnutment to the real sector of the economy to increase collecllve wealth tor the masses in tbe rural areas ThiS will reduce unemployment and rnsecunty m the economy "We must build hnancial literary. The capacity to managecrec:ht 11 as important as supply of credJ.t, so ruk sh4nng tacihbes should have technical aSSistance components tor banks and borrowers."
Northern govts should facilitate establishment of MFBs - NDIC BY BABAJIDE KOMOlAFEAJ"W ROSEMARYONUOI-IA
T
he Nigerian DepOSit Insurance Corporauon, NDIC. has called on northern state governments to lacibtate the establishment of nucrofinance banks (MFBs) m their region. saYing that the region has the least number of MFBs in the country Managing Director; NDlC. Mr. Umaru Ibrahim , made this call whlle speaking at NOIC senunar orgarused for
financial correspondents and bUSlOesS editors in Dutse. Jlgawa State, last week. He saJ.d North East and North West are laggmg behind in terms of mlcrofinance penetration. as they have only 32 MFBs, representing 368 per cent of the total Dumber of MFBs natIonWide. "To enhance financial inclUSion especiaUy in Northern Nlgena, It IS impefilltive for the governors of northern states to therefore encourage and promote the estabbshment of IDlcrofinance msbtubons in thelf tespecllve
states", he sa..\d While expressing displeasure on tbe uneven dIstributlon of microfinance banks in the country, he satd of the 869 MFBs in existence, 346 of them, eqwvalent to 40 per cent of nucro banks are located Ln the South West geopobbcal zone_ He added that 162 MFBs are situated m the South East, while the North Central has 158. He SlUd that Nonh East and North West on their part has 63 MFBs and 32 MFBs tespecbvely_ Of the total number of
provi Sional and final microtinance bank llcences lSSued by the Central Bank of N lgeria(CBNI , northern N Igeria, lOcludlng Federal CaPital Terntory{FCIl had only 25 per cent. Ibrahim saId MFBs are globally recogmsed as ventable tools tor finanoal InclUSIon as they playa mearungtul role to ensure that rural dwellers as well as the economicallyacuve poor are engaged in economic acuVlties through tinanaal 1OtermedlaUOn.