LAPO Microfinance makes history with N3.15 billion bond listing

LAPO Microfinance Bank recently made history as it became the first microfinance bank to raise funds from the capital market. The LAPO MFB SPV PLC Series 1 ₦3.15bn 17.75% 5-year Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Bond (the LAPO MFB SPV Bond) was listed on the FMDQ OTC. FCMB Capital Markets and United Capital Plc were co-sponsors to the issue.

The bond raise is part of a larger N20 billion shelf programme

LAPO (Lift Above Poverty Organization) was founded by began operations in 1987 as a non profit entity, but was formally registered as a Non-Profit and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with the Corporate Affairs Commissoion (CAC) in 1993. In 2010, LAPO MfB obtained the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to operate as a state microfinance bank and in 2012, it got an approval as a national microfinance bank. The bank currently has a client base of over one million customers and has disbursed over $1 billion dollars as loans.