By Oyintokoni Joel, Yenagoa
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Izon Microfinance Bank Ltd, Hon. Eneyi Zidougha, has unveiled his long-term plan to transform the bank into a major revenue earner for Bayelsa State.
Zidougha, who assumed office on April 15th following the completion of the 10-year tenure of his predecessor, Hon. Nengi Rufus-Spiff, in compliance with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulatory policy, said the 10-year-old bank is now on a path of major turnaround.
According to him, his long term plan for Izon Microfinance Bank Ltd is to grow the bank from a State Microfinance Bank to a National Microfinance Bank of the like of Monie-point and Opay, with a vision in sight to becoming a Regional Commercial Bank.
He said this will be achievable with the support of the State Government, which will only require an equity shareholding of N50 billion by CBN capitalization policy of banks in Nigeria.
The MD said Izon MFB has a crop of qualified management Staff with over 20 years banking experience both in the commercial and retail banking where they all started and had their experiences.
“The management team of Izon MFB are qualified to run a commercial bank successfully,” he stated.
He drew inspiration from history, noting that just like when the defunct Allstates Trust Bank Ltd established by the esteemed father of online banking, HRM Ebitimi Banigo, gave most Bayelsa Bankers the opportunity to be bankers of excellence, the likes of Tony Elumelu of UBA and Jim Ovia of Zenith Bank are such products from Ebitimi Banigo.
He explained that the bank is already fully digital and operates real-time online banking with a functional mobile application, reducing the need for customers to physically visit banking halls.
“Our App is working. As I talk to you, we are online real-time. You don’t even need to come to the bank anymore. You only see crowds during salary time when they come to withdraw cash. All our branches are functional with qualified branch managers,” he said.
On competitive advantage, he said the bank is the biggest state-owned microfinance bank in Bayelsa State with a wide network across all Local Government Areas of the state.
He listed the bank’s tailored retail products to include the ‘Dolo Dolo’ target savings scheme where customers save monthly till year-end and receive incentives such as bags of rice and other Christmas items, Asset Financing for household items and furniture, as well as its flagship Swift Loan for civil servants accessible within 48 hours and repayable within 12 to 24 months.
Zidougha disclosed that the bank currently has over 6,000 customers, including Local Government Council accounts such as Sagbama, Kaiama, Nembe and Brass.
He stressed that the bank’s workforce of about 120 staff are wholly Bayelsans drawn from across all local government areas of the state.
“This bank is owned by Bayelsa. All the staff are Bayelsans. It is a place where we have empowered our own people in the banking sector. Your son tomorrow can come and work here. But how do we sustain it? It is when all Bayelsans patronize their own bank,” he appealed.
