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In order to ensure that credit bureaus achieve their objective of minimising credit risks among financial institutions, Credit Awareness Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation has mapped out strategies to embark on financial literacy and credit awareness campaign among bankers, SME operators, industrialists and academicians. Among its planned strategies, include a two -day National Awareness Conference tagged Credit Awareness Nigeria’ from November 24, at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
According to directors in the organisation, Ladi Smith and Remi Abere, the conference which would have in attendance the vice president, Jonathan Goodluck as guest of honour, the Minister of State for Finance, Remi Babalola, deputy governor, CBN, Tunde Lemo and Tom Dailey as speakers, would focus on promoting development on consumer credit in Nigeria.
Other discussants include the country director of the World Bank, Onno Ruhl, First Bank executive director, Sanusi Lamido, Accion Micro Finance Bank boss Bunmi Lawson and Nigerian Labour Congress President, Bashir. Others are Ken Appenteng of SpeedGhana/GTZ, Osaretin Odaro of IFC and Magnus Kpakol of NAPEP.
The target of the organisation is to create an enabling environment for a sustainable credit bureau industry, create a society where at least 60 percent of the population has access to formal financial services and achieve increase in the current level of financial literacy in Nigeria.
By educating the stakeholders on credit, the organisation would also be accelerating economic growth and reduce poverty and raise awareness about the creation of an enabling and regulatory environment for credit reporting and relevance to credit bureau to the development of the economy.
Smith and Abere regretted that the absence of a consolidated credit information system implied that large numbers of consumer and small business borrowers are excluded from the credit market.
Presently, according to research less than five per cent of bank customers borrow funds and banks and other financial institutions have been constrained to make informed decisions due to absence of reliable information on the credit market.
The organisers believed that without adequate information, the credit bureaus being sponsored by CBN may not work effectively.