BRAC Liberia Extends Its Financial Inclusion Program to River Gee County

In continuation of its mission to promote financial inclusion, BRAC Liberia, one of the largest microfinance providers in the country, has established its 32nd branch in the Big Market Community in Fish Town, River Gee County. 

The ceremony, which was held recently in the County, was attended by individuals and county officials including Alex Kpakolo, Immigration Commander of River Gee, Theophilus T. Togba, Assistant Police Commissioner, Herodotus Sinature, Community Health Development Director as well as market women. 

BRAC is an international nonprofit organization that was established in Liberia in 2008 with the mission to provide financial services responsibly to people living in poverty especially women that are living in hard-to-reach areas, and to further create self-employment opportunities, build financial resilience and strengthen women’s entrepreneurial spirit.  

Nur Alam Siddiki, BRAC Program Manager who spoke at the program, informed residents that the new branch will offer its group-based microloans provided exclusively to women and small enterprise loans for individual business clients. 

Siddike told the people that the bank will also offer loans for job holders in its 24 branches around the country.

He said the establishment of its branch in hard-to-reach parts of the country will enhance livelihood opportunities for communities and further improve financial inclusion in Liberia, particularly women empowerment. 

“Women are the best financial managers in any home or organization. When you give a woman L$1,000 to manage, they will spend the money in a very efficient manner and that is why 97% of our borrowers are women,” Siddike said.

“As you all know, financial inclusion is very important to the overall development of any country, and this is one of the key priorities of the Government of Liberia Pro Poor Agenda,” he added. 

Siddiki mentioned that the famous quote from Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG, founder of BRAC, states that “Small is beautiful, but big is necessary.” According to him, it is why they are trying to reach out as much as they can.

Currently, he said, “We are serving almost 42 thousand families and we hope that this number will increase in the coming days. BRAC believes that given the right opportunities and tools, people living in poverty can turn around their own lives.” 

The BRAC Program Manager recalled that in the 2020 line data results for Liberia, (conducted by 60 Decibels using Lean Data surveys with the support of Global Partnerships), microfinance clients of BRAC noted improvements in their financial resilience in emergencies, and almost all of them stated that their quality of life has improved since engaging with BRAC. 

He said 92% of their clients accessed a loan for the first time with BRAC, and 99% reported that they could not easily access a good alternative, proving the positive impact of BRAC’s services in the life of its clients.  

“We have almost 38,000 borrowers, 97% of whom are women, and have disbursed over US$ 73 million in loans since its inception,” Siddiki recalled.

The company, he said, played an important role to keep up the economic activity in Liberia during the Ebola outbreak, and was one of the participating financial institutions for the Post Ebola Reconstruction Project coordinated jointly by the Central Bank of Liberia and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning funded by the World Bank. 

In remarks, James Toe Young, Special Assistant to River Gee Superintendent, lauded the management and staff of BRAC Liberia for giving ordinary Liberians the opportunity to empower themselves economically.

He said the new branch will help to improve the economy of the County only if the clients are committed. 

Young also asked the management of BRAC to conduct thorough analyses before providing loans to clients, urging the women to use the loan for the intended purpose.

For his part, Alex Kpakolo, Immigration Commander of River Gee County, stated that BRAC’s presence in Pleebo is a good beginning of improving the economy of Fish Town City and the County at large.

Speaking on behalf of the clients, a woman identified as Ma Boe said her group will remain committed to BRAC, adding that what they received means a lot to them and their family.

At the sametime, River Gee Assistant Police Commissioner, Theophilus T. Togba told the clients of BRAC that what they had received is an opportunity and they should handle it with care to ensure that the payment is done on time.

At the end of the programme, 10 women received $20,000 Liberian dollars each as a loan to kickstart the program.