How CREDICORP intends to tackle corruption  –  MD

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP), Uzoma Nwagba has disclosed that the corporation was established to improve the quality of life, stem corruption and catalyze industry.

Addressing State House correspondents during the Meet The Press event, organised by the Presidential media team in Abuja , Nwagba encouraged Nigerians to embrace credit schemes, adding that the corporation has put in place measures to tackle loan defaulters.

Explaining further, he said the first goal is to improve the quality of life.

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“This is not even my idea. It is what the President has always said. His second goal is to stem corruption. It comes back to this idea that people who are faced with pressures to get into unsavoury practices of corruption because they do not have the capital, the funding that they need to lead a decent life.

“So, by people having more access to consumer credit, the pressures on their current active income reduce. So it stems corruption. The third reason is to catalyze industry, which is that if we can channel the consumer credit that we are giving to Nigerians to purchase locally manufactured goods with a more deliberate efforts about that, then what would happen is that those industries can also grow, because you are now bringing purchasing power to them, and you create jobs, so improve lives, stem corruption, catalyze industry.”

Speaking on credit defaulters, Nwagba said plans were underway to link citizens’ credit scores to the National Identification Number (NIN), with a centralised credit bureau for the whole country.

Nwagba explained that linking credit scores to the NIN will have real-life benefits for Nigerians.

“More importantly, there will be consequences for loan defaulters, but these will be subtle and structured rather than predatory.

“Maybe you want to renew your passport, but if something shows that you owe money somewhere, you may not be able to proceed. The same applies to renewing your driver’s license or renting a house. There is no hiding place.

“This system ensures that whether your money is in a commercial bank, FinTech, or microfinance institution, loans taken and not repaid will be tracked and recoverable.

“The essence is for everyone to have a credit score. We are gathering comprehensive financial and non-financial data to develop a structural algorithm that will score every Nigerian; there will be no hiding place for anyone again.”

Nwagba tasked all financial institutions to partner with CREDICORP, disclosing that Nigeria needss about N183 trillion in credit to effectively develop the country level towards an efficient consumer credit facility.

“No government has that kind of money, so all financial institutions must commit to consumer credit. With the right infrastructure, lenders will be more relaxed and willing to provide loans, making credit more accessible.”