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Code: ASS – 012 Author: Quantity: 1 Type: copy Status: 1/1
Executive Summary
In consultation with practitioners and donors, Micro Start has been devised as a pilot programme to build the capacity of local organizations, and to initiate and upscale existing microfinance activities. The programme will, in its pilot phase, work at country level in a maximum of 25 countries globally. Nigeria has expressed an interest in participating in this programme, and has committed financial resources for the necessary programme components.
The performance of the Nigerian economy, has not been satisfactory despite its enormous potentials for growth and development. Although the country is endowed with a sizeable natural resource base and financial resources accruing from the oil sector, it is still considered poor with a low per capita income and a ranking quite low according to its Human Development Index (HDI). The 1995 UNDP Human development report estimated that the life expectancy in the country is about 50 and that the human development index is 0.406 which ranks Nigeria as number 141 out of 174 countries in the word.