Grameen Foundation Announces $5 Million Financing Deal for Nigerian Microfinance Institution LAPO

Largest Microfinance Deal for Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria

WASHINGTON, DC–(EMWNews – August 11, 2008) – Grameen Foundation has announced its second

and largest Growth Guarantees transaction in Nigeria: US$5 million for Lift

Above Poverty Organization (LAPO), a leading microfinance institution (MFI)

in Nigeria. Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria structured the US$5 million

Naira equivalent term loan supported by a US$2 million guarantee from

Grameen Foundation. This deal is Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria’s largest

with a microfinance institution in the country.

“We are pleased to help forge this new alliance between Standard Chartered

Bank Nigeria and LAPO which will help to fuel LAPO’s expansion into

southwest and eastern Nigeria, thus giving more poor Nigerians access to

financial services and financial security,” said Alex Counts, President and

CEO of Grameen Foundation. LAPO has been a Grameen Foundation partner since

2002, and currently serves more than 200,000 clients.

“This is the largest portfolio financing support LAPO has received so far

from a commercial bank. It has great implications for our efforts to reach

a large number of female owners of microenterprises across the country,”

said Godwin Ehigiamusoe, LAPO’s Founder and Executive Director. “The

Grameen Foundation/Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria/LAPO financing is a bold

statement on the institutional strength of LAPO as well as in the enormous

potential of the nascent Nigerian microfinance sector.”

According to the Managing Director & CEO of Standard Chartered Bank

Nigeria, Mr. Christopher Knight, “The Bank focuses on activities that not

only enhance our business performance now and for the long term, but also

enhance the economic development of the countries we operate in, have a

positive impact on the environment and society, as well as contribute to

good governance. I am quite proud of this tripartite partnership with

Grameen Foundation and LAPO which has given us the opportunity to provide

major support for Nigeria’s microfinance sector.”

About Grameen Foundation

Grameen Foundation is a global non-profit organization that combines

microfinance, technology, and innovation to empower the world’s poorest

people to escape poverty. It has established a global network of partners

in 28 countries that has impacted an estimated 34 million lives in Asia,

Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East. Based in Washington, D.C.,

Grameen Foundation was founded by Alex Counts, who began his work in

microfinance with 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the

founder of Grameen Bank. Dr. Yunus is a founding and current member of

Grameen Foundation’s board of directors. For more information on Grameen

Foundation, please visit www.grameenfoundation.org.

About LAPO

Founded in 1987 in Benin City, Nigeria, Lift Above Poverty Organization

(LAPO) provides affordable financial services to rural and urban poor

communities. It offers a wide range of savings and loan products to its

clients including regular (working capital) loans, farming loans, regular

and voluntary savings. LAPO has been awarded the CGAP Pro-Innovation

Challenge award for its innovative “Credit for Shares” loan product which

aimed at encouraging the participation of the poor, specifically women in

the privatization programs of the Nigerian government. In 2006, LAPO also

received the Grameen Foundation “Excellence in Microfinance Award.” For

more information on LAPO, please visit http://www.lapo-ng.org.

About Standard Chartered in Nigeria

In 1965, the Standard Bank of South Africa merged with the Bank of West

Africa acquiring businesses including a banking operation in Nigeria, which

dated back to 1894. The name was then changed to Standard Bank of West

Africa. Four years after the merger, Standard Bank Nigeria was incorporated

locally to take over the business in Nigeria. In 1971, 13% of the share

capital was placed with Nigerian investors. The end of the civil war saw a

major economic upturn and as a consequence, the military government sought

to increase local control of the retail-banking sector, hence the Bank’s

investment in Standard Bank Nigeria (renamed First Bank of Nigeria in 1979)

was reduced to 38%. Standard Chartered remained a shareholder of First Bank

of Nigeria until 1996.

Standard Chartered re-entered Nigeria in 1999 and opened to customers on 15

September 1999 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank Plc,

headquartered in United Kingdom. It now has fourteen branches located in

Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Ibadan, Kano, Ota and Aba offering a wide

range of products and services in both consumer and wholesale banking. It

employs over 380 employees and sees Nigeria as a growth centre.

Contact: Liselle Yorke [email protected] 202-628-3560, ext. 128