MICROCAPITAL STORY: South African Microfinance Institution (MFI) Blue Financial Services and Nigeria’s Intercontinental Bank to Launch $25.9m Microfinance Bank

Blue Financial Services (BFS), a South African microfinance institution (MFI), and Intercontinental Bank Plc, Nigeria’s largest commercial and retail bank by assets, are collaborating to launch a Nigerian microfinance bank capitalized at NGN 3 billion (USD 25.9 million), the largest such institution in the country.

The announcement of the new bank is the result of two years of research by BFS, including the search for suitable partners in the venture. Individual banking in Nigeria has been largely limited to taking deposits for savings; lending to individuals is infrequent and is usually limited to those customers who use other banking products as well. In fact, only one-tenth of lending in Nigeria is made to individuals, said BFS CEO Dave van Niekerk, as quoted in the Banking Times. There is only one bank branch for every 32,700 Nigerians in the cities, and the ratio is 57,000-to-1 for those in rural areas. The new venture hopes to address this need by starting and growing aggressively.

The initial size of the bank is seen as advantageous for this growth strategy. If approved by regulators, it would begin operations in three months as the first microfinance bank in Nigeria to exceed NGN 1 billion in capitalization. As such, it would qualify as a “state microfinance bank” eligible to operate in every state of Nigeria immediately. The Blue-Intercontinental operation would use the existing 300 Intercontinental branches as a starting point, opening up separate microfinance branches at each location. Standalone branches would also be opened up across the country, and the long-term vision has Blue-Intercontinental expanding beyond Nigeria as a “world-class” institution, in the words of Intercontinental chief executive Erastus Akingbola.

BFS will hold a 55 percent share in the bank, while Intercontinental will maintain 35 percent, according to the Banking Times article. U.S.-based private-equity investor AIG Capital Partners is to hold the remaining ten percent. BFS plans to contribute collection and credit scoring methodologies and processes previously established in its other African operations to the venture.

Blue Financial Services, based in Pretoria, South Africa, and founded in 2001, is an MFI focused on southern Africa. It is traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange under ticker symbol BFSJ. For the year ended February 28, 2007, it had assets of USD 68.8 million (size of its loan book could not be determined). Its return on assets was 5.52 percent and its debt-equity ratio was 32.63 percent.

MicroCapital previously reported on the collaboration of BFS with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in creating a pilot HIV/AIDS awareness program for southern Africa last September. Also reported was the company’s 472% improvement in year-to-year performance last May.

Intercontinental Bank started as a merchant bank in 1989 and became a commercial bank ten years later. In 2002, it made its initial public offering (IPO) on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. As of February 28, 2007 (Financials), the bank had NGN 704.8 billion (USD 5.7 billion) in assets, of which NGN 262.5 billion (USD 2.1 billion) was listed as “loans and advances to customers.” Return on assets was 2.15 percent, and the debt-equity ratio was 348.15 percent.

By Stephen Son

Additional Resources:

Oanda.com: FX Converter

BusinessDay: “Intercontinental, SA firma form N3bn micro-finance bank”

Daily Sun: “Intercontinental floats microfinance bank”

Banking Times: “Blue expands into Nigeria with multi-partner venture”

BusinessWeek: BFSJ — Financial Statements

MicroCapital.org article, September 17, 2007: “International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Blue Financial Services Group to Integrate HIV/AIDS Prevention with Microfinance”

MicroCapital.org article, May 23, 2007: “African Microfinance Institution Blue Financial up 472% in Financial Standings with the Help of Consumer Credit Provider Future Finance”

Intercontinental Bank: Our History; Financials