- According to Mr. Thompson, the people distributing the money have no ‘skin’ in the game.
- Nobody can convince me that the NBSSI has better risk assessment ‘tools’ than a properly constituted rural bank, savings and Loans Company or a microfinance institution.
- I can assure you that 99% of the people will not pay back.
- No government will have the political will to take loan defaulters court.
- We have to accept that some businesses will fail, never come back and nothing can be done about it.
Dalex Finance CEO, Kenneth Thompson has disclosed that the National Board for Small Scale Industries cannot manage the stimulus packa.ge.
Suggesting which outfit best fits the task, Mr. Thompson suggests private financial institutions– as they have better risk management models, have experience and are knowledgeable about the business environment contrary to the dearth of expertise inherent in the NBSSI.
“What do they know, what risks have they ever taken; how much money have they lost?”
“Take the money away from NBSSI and give it to private financial institutions. Leverage government’s funds by getting the institutions to commit their own funds and then maybe we can have some hope that the program will be successful. Nobody can convince me that the NBSSI has better risk assessment ‘tools’ than a properly constituted rural bank, savings and Loans Company or a microfinance institution”.
Additionally, the Dalex Finance boss noted that the distribution channel, being NBSSI, is misguided, reechoing his sentiments on their lack of skill, with political heads not being held accountable for any poor decision undertaken.
“The people distributing the money have no ‘skin’ in the game. If they give the money away free, what happens to them? They don’t lose their jobs. In any case the people taking the decisions, the big decisions, are politicians”.
As such, “by the time the day of reckoning, they’ve left their jobs and even if they’re still in their jobs, what will happen to them…nothing?”
“I can assure you that 99% of the people will not pay back. They won’t pay back and it’s simply because amongst other things, the fundamental principles in credit administration process have been abandoned”.
“We live in a country where people believe that government money is ‘free money’…no government will have the political will to take loan defaulters court. Take any government institution since independence which has administered credit and look at the collection record. It’s poor!” “When has government money ever been paid back? MASLOC is a good example”.
Mr. Ken Thompson
The Dalex Finance boss advised companies to brace themselves for difficult times ahead as the current slowdown in businesses is going to get worse.
“We should try and keep some businesses alive until the economy starts to pick up, and also to provide sustenance to people who have lost their jobs. But we have to accept that some businesses will fail, never come back and nothing can be done about it”.
