A financial service provider, Whitecrust Investment Group, says it has targeted 200,000 potential customers in Kano to promote financial inclusion and economic empowerment.
Its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kingsley Clements-Eremionkhale, stated this on Tuesday at the inauguration of the company’s branch office in Kano.
Clements-Eremionkhale said the initiative was aimed at extending financial services to people who had been excluded from, or had limited access to mainstream financial institutions.
He said the company would provide lending, investment and financial literacy services to civil servants, paramilitary personnel, artisans, traders, business owners and other residents.
“We will sell our services in terms of investment and loans to a minimum of 200,000 potential customers in one year.
“We intend to empower them through financial literacy training because education and knowledge are also very important in empowerment,” he said.
He said the company had conducted a needs assessment before establishing its presence in Kano, and tailored its products to reflect the cultural and religious diversity of the state.
“We have recruited local employees who can speak the local language of the people in Kano and communicate easily with the average civil servants, businessmen and businesswomen to improve service delivery,” he said.
The company, he said, would expand its lending services beyond civil servants to include small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), artisans, as well as market men and women.
Clements-Eremionkhale said that its investment services would also be structured to accommodate micro, small and high-net-worth investors.
He said that the company would also introduce Islamic finance products specifically designed for the Kano market.
The CEO said that experts trained and certified in Islamic banking and finance were already working on the products.
On employment creation, Clements-Eremionkhale said that the company had recruited 13 workers in Kano and planned to employ an additional 10 others.
“We feel that it is important to be in Kano because of the population and also to contribute our quota in terms of economic value to the people of Kano and tax payments,” he said.
He said the company’s microfinance subsidiary was developing corporate social responsibility initiatives targeted at market men and women.
According to Clements-Eremionkhale, the initiatives include access to discounted Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) policies tied to some investment products.
He said that the group has been operating for five years, adding that the Kano branch was its 10th.
He attributed the expansion to the company’s focus, determination and commitment to creating a lasting impact, rather than concentrating solely on profitability.
“We came into this market with a legacy mindset. We want to leave a legacy. We want to empower people and create employment,” he said.
He said that the company had also digitalised its loan and investment processes through its mobile application.
“The digital platforms will enable entrepreneurs in Kano to access the company’s services more conveniently and support the growth of their businesses.
“The group’s long-term ambition was to obtain a commercial banking licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) within the next 10 years.
“Automatically, the moment we have a commercial bank licence, this branch becomes a commercial bank branch,” he said.
He added that the group had acquired a stake in a microfinance bank, with documentation for its proposed name change and relocation submitted to the CBN for approval. (NAN)
