Miners association’s Microfinance Bank to commence operations in 2016

(NAN) Alhaji Sani Shehu, the National President, Miners Association of Nigeria, said on Sunday that the Miners Microfinance Bank for small-scale miners would no longer be established this year, as earlier proposed.

Shehu, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, however, added that the proposed bank would begin operations before the end of 2016.

According to him, the proposed bank owned by the association, which is meant to cater for the small-scale miners, will no longer be completed this year, as scheduled.

“The bank is still in process; it will no longer start operation this year as proposed because when the idea was conceived, the association thought it could be formalised in just two months.

“At a recent meeting we had with our consultant handling the project, he indicated that there were procedures to be taken; hopefully, it will now commence operation before the end of 2016,’’ he said.

Shehu said the establishment of the bank would cover the funding gap in the nation’s mining sector, adding that small-scale miners carried out about 90 per cent of the mining activities in the country.

He said the terms and conditions of the bank’s loans would be favourable as the interest rate and loan repayment terms will be different from that of the conventional banks.

Shehu, however, added that the bank would be supported through multiple windows, saying that investors would be involved in the bank to enable it to generate some interest from its operations. (NAN)