No fewer than 83,236 Nigerians are currently accessing the Federal Government’s consumer credit facility nationwide.
Of the number, 50,438 are non-government workers and 32,798 are public sector employees.
A further breakdown of the number shows artisans topping the table with 16,769 beneficiaries in the non-public sector and 11,451 teachers in the public sector.
The figures are contained in the one year anniversary brief of Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) shared with The Nation at the weekend by Uzoma Nwagba, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the organisation.
Nwagba expressed delight with the interest shown in the scheme by Nigerians, saying he was optimistic that the number of beneficiaries will before the end of today rise to 90,000.
The newsletter shows that apart from the 11,451 teachers who have accessed the loans in the public/ government sector, 8,671 paramilitary personnel, 457 administrative staff members and 4,109 doctors have also benefited.
Beneficiaries in the non-government sector include 13,618 employees in private firms, 13,182 traders and 6,869 entrepreneurs.
In terms of gender inclusion, 49 per cent of beneficiaries—about 40,786—are women.
Youths aged between 18 and 35 make up 45 per cent of the total recipients.
Another 53 per cent are between 36 and 60 years old,d with the remaining two per cent over 60.
The Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration committed N200 billion to expand access to consumer credits, especially by the ‘’underserved and financially excluded ’’ workers.
The fund was channelled into key sectors by CREDICORP, with 37 per cent of disbursements going toward life essentials such as education and medical needs.
Other sectors are automobiles, particularly compressed natural gas (CNG) and electric vehicles (13 per cent), home upgrades and appliances (12 per cent), energy solutions (13 per cent), and digital devices (14 per cent).
Nwagba explained that “the government is putting its money out as wholesale capital at concessionary rates or credit guarantees. ”
Wholesale capital allows financial institutions to borrow from CREDICORP and repay later, while credit guarantees involve the government sharing the lending risk.
“If people don’t pay you back, we will share the risk partially with you,” Nwagba said, indicating that such measures are designed to make lending safer and more attractive for financial institutions.
He stated that even though interest rates for the loans are determined by the participating financial institutions, support from CREDICORP helps them to offer lower or concessionary rates.
Nwagba warned that defaulting on repayments would result in damaged credit scores.
Another document shared with The Nation was the fourth volume of the CREDICORP Newsletter which stated that in order to facilitate the growing scale of the programme, CREDICORP has partnered with 23 financial institutions and 150 local manufacturers.
