In a March 2022 interview published on arbiterz.com, Dr Godwin Ehigiamusoe tells two touching stories that speak to the impact that his Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) has had on people at the bottom of the pyramid.
The first was at a wedding reception in Benin City, Edo State capital. “I had to stay till the end of the reception as I was the chairman. As the last guests were leaving, a middle-aged lady came to me and whispered into my ears, ‘You lifted me out from the pit’. I was looking at her, a little bit confused, and she quickly responded, ‘I am not a relative, I am a LAPO woman’. This brought tears to my eyes.”
The second was at a customer forum in Owerri, Imo State, which had in attendance people from other places in the region. “I went out during the break, and one lady led three or four other women to where I was standing and said, ‘Sir, I have vowed that the day I see the founder of LAPO, I would lie flat on the ground and thank him for what he has done for Akwa Ibom women. Sir, can I do it now?’”
But that is just a tip of the impact story of LAPO, a pro-poor development organisation that Ehigiamusoe founded in 1987 and which, in the course of over three decades, has empowered several millions of people who live below the poverty line with access to finance through loans and savings products and investment innovations – institutions within the LAPO system in and outside Nigeria disbursed loans valued at N140.4 billion in 2016 alone.
And there is a story behind the founding of LAPO which speaks of inspiration.
“In the 1980s, when Nigeria was experiencing some economic challenges, the Structural Adjustment Programme was introduced by the then-President Babangida, in collaboration with the World Bank and the IMF, as a way to restructure and diversify the economy, and basically reform the country’s foreign exchange system, trade policies, and business and agricultural regulations. There were a lot of negative side effects on the economic well-being of Nigerian citizens, and as a result, the need for microfinance and credit support was necessary. Thus, LAPO was started to address the limitations to access and to enable improved economic outcomes,” he narrates.
So, from the outset, Ehigiamusoe had a dream: to create a financial institution that would provide access to an array of responsive social and economic empowerment services for low-income households and disadvantaged groups on a sustainable basis. That dream has long materialised as LAPO has evolved into a vast collection of mutually reinforcing institutions/businesses that address the needs of persons and businesses at the bottom end of the society – with interests in microfinance, micro-insurance, micro-leasing, healthcare and education.
There is LAPO Microfinance Bank Limited, a leader in micro, small and medium enterprise financing in sub-Saharan Africa. There is LAPO Microfinance Company, Sierra-Leone, one of the leading microfinance institutions in that country. There is LAPO Development Foundation, which provides social and health empowerment programmes addressing issues related to low self-esteem, poor nutrition, discrimination, injustice and gender inequality. There is LAPO Capital, which makes investments on behalf of its more successful clients. There is LAPO Institute, a centre for research and training in Microfinance and Enterprise Development providing capacity development for the growing microfinance industry as well as the development of entrepreneurial skills. LAPO Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative specifically addresses challenges that affect the rural economy, including gender issues, political empowerment, sustainable farming methods and market access. LAPO Development Services provides training, technical assistance and human resource development to other microfinance institutions, NGOs and banks. And the list goes on.
Ehigiamusoe, who stepped down as the MD of LAPO Microfinance Bank in November 2019, did not come into the space he occupies today by chance. He has been intentional every step of the way. Switching to Sociology after he was admitted to study English Language at the University of Benin was deliberate, just as were his extra-curricula activities, like doing a vacation job at the offices of a cooperative in Benin City or being part of a student society that was focused on development questions. The society, of which he became president in his final year, organised symposia and workshops for students and invited academics and development experts to share insights on the economic challenges facing people at the bottom of society.
By the time he was leaving university, Godwin Eseiwi Ehigiamusoe was clear about what he wanted to do. Propelled by his strong belief that meaningful development will happen only when ordinary folks are empowered to improve their own lives and do things for themselves, the man whom some have described as Nigeria’s Mohammed Yunus deliberately started his career as a rural cooperatives officer. He was fascinated by the idea of cooperative as a social and economic association of people with limited means who come together and pool their limited resources, and from that pool, members can draw to meet their respective needs.
“I found this quite intriguing and it aligned with my concept of what development should be. So, instead of being an administrative officer in the civil service in Benin City, I decided to find rural cooperative officer job. I was fascinated with cooperatives because I realised that it could be a tool to transform the rural economy if you want to,” he says.
All of these experiences led him, eventually, to establish Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) which, according to him, “is essentially about working with ordinary people and providing them with the means i.e., credit to improve their conditions of living”. Beyond credit access, the organisation also integrates low-income people into its financial stream through motivational activities, group formation, pre-loan training and provision of support and services. It also uses client engagement and deployment of its agent banking network.
A continuous learner, Ehigiamusoe would go on to obtain a Master’s in Development Studies at the University of Benin and a PhD in Policy and Development Studies at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, where his dissertation focused on “Policy Instruments and Financial Inclusion: A Comparative Study of the Ethiopian and Nigerian Microfinance Policies and Regulatory Frameworks”. He also holds a diploma in Cooperative Thrift and Credit Management and has attended several capacity enhancement and development programmes, including the Kennedy School of Government’s Financial Institution Programme for Enterprise Development, Lagos Business School’s Chief Executive Programme (CEP), INSEAD Business School’s Social Entrepreneurship Programme, and the University of Edinburgh’s Sustainable Finance Programme.
Much of the story of this man who over time has been central to the development of microfinance in Africa and actively participated in the formulation of the Nigerian Microfinance Policy, Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines has been told in ‘Touching Lives: My LAPO Journey’, a book he presented to the reading public on October 14, 2021 in Lagos. Some reviews describe the book as “a touching and self-effacing story told by one of the first movers of the microfinance sub-sector of the finance industry”; “a narrative of vision, commitment, and service”; “part personal reflection, part history text on the evolution and development of microfinance in Nigeria”, etc.
But that is not the only book by Ehigiamusoe, himself an avid reader. His other works include ‘Understanding NGOs’ (1998), ‘Poverty and Microfinance in Nigeria’ (2000), ‘Issues in Microfinance: Enhancing Financial Inclusion’ (2011), and It Can Be Done (The Mind Behind LAPO).
Apart from the work he does at LAPO and its subsidiaries, Ehigiamusoe chairs the Boards of several companies, including GOXI Microinsurance Company Limited, Nigeria’s first licensed specialized microinsurance company, and Benin Medical Care, a medical and diagnostic facility in Benin City. He is also a microfinance consultant to the World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, NAPEP and Central Bank of Nigeria.
For his good works, Dr Godwin Ehigiamusoe has received several honours and awards. They include FATE Foundation’s Model Entrepreneur Award (2008), Professor Schwab Foundation’s (World Economic Forum) Outstanding Social Entrepreneur for Africa (2010), LBS Distinguished Alumni Award (2014), Doctor of Science (honoris causa) of the University of Benin (2016). LAPO under his leadership was awarded the Pro-Poor Award for Innovation in Microfinance by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the Grameen Foundation’s Excellence in Microfinance Award (2006). Interestingly, he invested the Grameen Award’s $10,000 cash prize in the LAPO Scholarship Scheme. Just recently, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) conferred on him an honorary fellowship award.
But he is not resting on his laurels. His commitment to putting money to the best use – that is, helping people to meet the sort of needs that condemn them to a lifetime of adversity if those needs are not met – is undying.
And when all is said and done, here’s how he would want to be remembered: “Let it be said that I led a people, a large number of Africans, to create sustainable institutions which meet the health, social and economic needs of the low-income people and thereby taking them out of the fringe of national economy to the mainstream.”
