BRAC, one of the largest microfinance providers in Liberia, has opened and dedicated its 32th branch in River Gee County, as part of its mission to promote financial inclusion in the country.
The ceremony, which took place at the entity’s new office in Big Market Community, Fish Town, River Gee County, on August 12, 2021, was graced by Alex Kpakolo, Immigration Commander of River Gee, Theophilus T. Togba, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Herodotus Sinature, Community Health Development Director as well as market women, business association leaders and BRAC microfinance group members.
Nur Alam Siddiki, Program Manager of BRAC, who spoke at the program, said Women are the best financial managers in any home.
According to her, if one gives a woman L$1,000 to manage, she spends it in a very efficient manner; that is why 97% of their borrowers are women.
In alignment with its mission, he said the new branch is in one of the hard-to-reach parts of the country, and will enhance livelihood opportunities for its communities and further improve financial inclusion in Liberia.
Siddiki said so far BRAC Liberia has distributed 1,726 hand-washing buckets with chlorine and detergent powder to all microfinance groups, and also provided food packages to visually impaired people in Montserrado County. All microfinance staff and branches received COVID-19 protective wear and equipment such as thermal guns, reusable masks, hand sanitizers, hand gloves, face shields, etc.
Siddiki disclosed that the new branch will offer its group-based microloans exclusively to women, and small enterprise loans for individual business clients. It also offers loans for job holders in 24 of its branches in the country.
He said, “As you all know, financial inclusion is very important to the overall development of any country, and this is one of the key priorities of the Government of Liberia’s pro poor agenda.”
Siddiki mentioned the famous quote of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG, Founder of BRAC, which states, “Small is beautiful, but big is necessary.” “That is why we’re trying to reach as much as we can,” he stated.
“Currently,” he said, “we are serving almost 42 thousand families, and we hope that this number will increase in the coming days. BRAC believes that, given the right opportunities and tools, people living in poverty can turn around their own lives.”
BRAC’s program manager recalled that in the 2020 line data results of Liberia (conducted by 60 Decibels using Lean Data surveys with the support of Global Partnerships), microfinance clients of BRAC noted improvements in their financial resilience in emergencies, and almost all of them stated that their quality of life has improved since engaging with BRAC.
He said 92% of their clients accessed a loan for the first time with BRAC, and 99% reported that they could not easily access a good alternative, proving the positive impact of BRAC’s services on the lives of its clients.
“We have almost 38,000 borrowers, 97% of whom are women, and have disbursed over US$73 million in loans since our inception,” Siddiki recalled.
The company, he said, played an important role to keep up the economic activity in Liberia during the Ebola outbreak, and was one of the participating financial institutions for the Post Ebola Reconstruction Project, coordinated jointly by the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, and funded by the World Bank.
In remarks, James Toe Young, Special Assistant to Superintendent in the county, said BRAC Liberia Microfinance Company Limited will help improve the economy of the county, but only if the clients are committed.
Young also asked the management of BRAC to conduct, thorough analyses, before providing loans to clients, and urged the women to use the loan for the intended purpose.
For his part, Alex Kpakolo, Immigration Commander of River Gee County, stated that BRAC’s presence in Pleebo is a good beginning of improving the economy of Fish Town City and the county at large.
Speaking on behalf of the clients, Ma Boe said her group will remain committed to BRAC, adding that what they received means a lot to them and their family.
Also speaking, River Gee Assistant Police Commissioner, Theophilus T. Togba, told the clients of BRAC that what they had received is an opportunity, and they should handle it with care and ensure that repayment of the loan is timely.
At the end of the program, 10 women received L$20,000 each as loans, the start of BRAC’s journey in Fish Town.
BRAC started operations in Liberia in 2008, with the mission of providing financial services to people living in poverty, especially women living in rural and hard-to-reach areas, to create self-employment opportunities, build financial resilience and harness women’s entrepreneurial spirit.