LAGOS – Dr Evans Osabuohien, an economist, on Tuesday called for the strengthening of existing micro credit schemes in the country for optimum productivity.
Osabuohien, who lectures at the Department of Economics and Development Studies, Covenant University, Ota, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
According to him, existing local credit schemes like thrift, cooperative societies, and microfinance platforms were evolving and needed time to gain maturity and be more efficient.
“We need to strengthen existing micro loan schemes for easy accessibility and efficiency.
“The existing schemes are based on common knowledge of individual players and they check moral hazards,’’ he said.
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The economist, who noted the overwhelming influence of technology in international commerce, said that the entrance of new loan schemes with technological bias would require serious publicity.
He spoke against the backdrop of the spread of the crowd funding scheme which is sweeping Europe, Asia and gradually coming to Africa.
Osabuohien said that Nigerians should exercise caution in embracing foreign micro credit schemes that were gradually gaining root in Africa, like the crowd funding scheme.
NAN reports that crowd funding is the practice of funding a project by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people typically via online platforms. (NAN)
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