No fewer than 400 Village Credit and Savings groups, in the three participating local government areas, had been linked to financial service providers through Rural Finance Institution Building Programme (RUFIN).

This was disclosed by the Deputy National Coordinator, RUFIN, Mrs Ufaruna Uneku while fielding questions from AgroNigeria in Owerri, Imo State capital during 11TH FGN/IFAD follow-up supervision mission for the RUFIN programme recently. She said:  “So far in Imo State, the Village Credit and Savings groups that had been formed and strengthened thus far is over 400 in the three participating local government areas namely: Ezinihitte Mbaise, Ideato North and Isiala Mbano.

These groups according to her, had been linked to financial service providers. She maintained that RUFIN as at today boasts of seven financial service providers in Imo State where they have four microfinance banks and three financial NGOs and “the Bank of Agriculture Limited which make it eighth.”

The monitoring and evaluation expert said the programme has done well in Imo State in spite of the fact that the state government is yet to pay its counterpart funds for the past five years. “IFAD decided to cover the gap by injecting funds for the implementation of the programme in Imo State so that the rural poor are not dragged to the mud as a result of this missing gap in funds. We formed Village Savings and Credit groups of 20 to 25 members each,” she said.