Umuchinemere Procredit
Microfinance Bank Nigeria Limited

Driven by its self-set social goal to eradicate poverty in the society, in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria's policy on micro financing, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Enugu-owned Umuchinemere Pro-credit Micro Finance Bank, (UPMFB) Enugu, has begun a massive provision of micro credit facilities to the teeming active poor rural populace in two rural local government areas of Nkanu East and Nkanu West in Enugu State, in furtherance of the church's avowed war against poverty in Africa.

The bank through its new branch at Agbani, provided various amounts of micro credit funds to about 300 active poor people living in the Nkanu East and Nkanu West areas alone, to improve their means of livelihood and change their lives for the better.

The bank has since its transformation in 2007 recorded a streak of successes in the goal of fighting poverty by bettering the poor living conditions of thousands of the active poor people in Enugu State, both in the urban and rural areas.

The bank offers micro-credit facilities in areas of micro leasing, tricycle leasing, small and medium scale trading/enterprises, agriculture, education advancement, easy savings for low income earners, children education micro funding, house improvement, wedding, salary advancement, etc.

And to contend with the rising challenges of meeting the goal and the daily economic needs of the active poor in the society, especially in the rural areas, the Umuchinemere Pro-credit Micro Finance Bank, (UPMFB), Enugu, Nigeria has with the approval of the country's banking regulatory body, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), enhanced its capacity by upgrading three of its rural outlets from Meeting Points to Branches.

The Umuchinemere Pro-credit Micro Finance Bank was established by the Catholic Diocese of Enugu under the leadership of Late Bishop Michael Ugwuja Eneja on July 22, 1995, first as a Community Bank and later transformed in 2007 as a micro finance bank, when micro finance banking policy was introduced by the federal government of Nigeria to take care of the economic empowerment/needs of the unbanked active poor people in the country.

Chairman of the bank, the Rev. Pro f. Obiora Ike, a Roman Catholic prelate (Monsignor), explained that the new branches were established to meet the rising daily needs of the banks teeming active poor and even the middle income earning people scattered all over the state.

The Umuchinemere Pro-credit Micro Finance Bank chairman said after its inspection of the three outlets of the bank, the CBN was satisfied that they met the requisite status to become branches and therefore gave its approval for them to be made branches.

Ike reiterated his earlier position to ensure that UPMFB remains "a credible vehicle for economic evangelization, which corresponds to the Social Doctrine of the Church to make faith real through good works that serve the principles of solidarity, human dignity and the common good, as well as retains its high profile as a leading microfinance bank in Nigeria, fulfilling regulatory guidelines, and stakeholders expectations".