Lagos, Nigeria – Grooming People for Better livelihood Centre (Grooming Centre) has been ranked among the highest rated Microfinanace Institutions globally by MicroRate, the foremost international rating agency. Announcing this, MicroRate stressed that “after a year full of challenges for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), we want to publicly recognize in presence of the various actors of the Microfinance Sector, those MFIs rated by MicroRate that had superior financial, social, and institutional performances even in the face of an adverse context in the localities where they operate without losing focus on their mission towards financial inclusion”.
Grooming Centre achieved excellence in both Institutional Performance and Social Performance, rated a- and ranking among the ten top institutions globally in Institutional performance (which gauged Governance and Management, Organization, Credit Operations, Portfolio quality, and Financial Profile), and rated four stars out of five stars in Social Performance (which examined the Depth and Adequacy of services, Responsible Finance, Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Commitment). A virtual award ceremony was held on Thursday, November 18, 2021 to officially present the list of institutions that made remarkable efforts in demonstrating the possibility of a financial-social balance.
“Sustaining this milestone in two successions is a significant step for Grooming Centre as it continues to drive for excellence in empowering the poor at the bottom of the pyramid by scaling up its financial and non-financial products and services, particularly in these unprecedented times with the Covid-19 pandemic having a profound effect on the lives of millions of people across the country. Additionally, it creates more opportunities and partnerships which strengthens our commitment to promoting financial inclusion and expanding choices for the excluded at the base of economic pyramid.” says Godwin Nwabunka, CEO, Grooming Centre.
About Grooming Centre
Grooming Centre, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), was founded in 2006 to address the near absence of financial services to the large population of economically active low-income earners engaged in small trading and micro productive activities in many parts of Nigeria. The Centre has done over 11 million credits since inception and is presently providing financial and non-financial services to over 700,000 members through a network of 603 branches across 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The Centre is a member of the World Bank Group Universal Financial Access (UFA 2020) initiative. For more information, visit www.groomingcentre.org