A financial services provider, Whitecrust Investment Group, has announced plans to reach 200,000 residents of Kano State within one year as part of efforts to promote financial inclusion and economic empowerment.
The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Kingsley Clements-Eremionkhale, disclosed this on Tuesday during the inauguration of the group’s branch office in Kano.
Clements-Eremionkhale said the initiative was designed to provide financial services to residents who had limited access to conventional financial institutions.
He said the company would offer loans, investment opportunities and financial literacy programmes to civil servants, paramilitary personnel, artisans, traders, business owners and other residents.
“We will sell our services in terms of investment and loans to a minimum of 200,000 potential customers in one year.
“We intend to empower them through financial literacy training because education and knowledge are also very important in empowerment,” he said.
The CEO said the company conducted a needs assessment before establishing its presence in Kano and subsequently tailored its products to the cultural and religious peculiarities of the state.
He said the company had also employed local staff who could communicate effectively in the local language to improve service delivery.
According to him, the company’s lending services would be expanded beyond civil servants to include small and medium-sized enterprises, artisans and traders.
He added that its investment products would cater to micro, small and high-net-worth investors.
Clements-Eremionkhale also disclosed that the company was developing Islamic finance products specifically for the Kano market.
He said experts trained and certified in Islamic banking and finance had been engaged to develop the products.
On job creation, he said the company had employed 13 workers in Kano and planned to recruit 10 more.
“We feel that it is important to be in Kano because of the population and also to contribute our quota in terms of economic value to the people of Kano and tax payments,” he said.
The CEO said the company’s microfinance subsidiary was also developing corporate social responsibility initiatives for market men and women.
He said the initiatives included access to discounted Health Maintenance Organisation policies linked to some investment products.
Clements-Eremionkhale said Whitecrust had operated for five years, adding that the Kano office was its 10th branch.
He attributed the expansion to the company’s commitment to creating a lasting impact rather than focusing solely on profit.
“We came into this market with a legacy mindset. We want to leave a legacy. We want to empower people and create employment,” he said.
He added that the group had digitalised its loan and investment processes through its mobile application to enable entrepreneurs to access its services more conveniently.
Clements-Eremionkhale further disclosed that the group’s long-term plan was to obtain a commercial banking licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria within the next 10 years.
“Automatically, the moment we have a commercial bank licence, this branch becomes a commercial bank branch,” he said.
He also disclosed that the group had acquired a stake in a microfinance bank, with documentation for its proposed name change and relocation already submitted to the CBN for approval.
