By Godwin Anyebe
As the world marks Customer Service Week, the spotlight often falls on speedy responses and friendly help-desk agents. But at LAPO Microfinance Bank (MfB), customer service goes far beyond the counter. It’s built into the very products offered, the partnerships forged, and the commitment to a sustainable future for its over six million clients. For LAPO, serving the customer means lighting their home, educating their child, and empowering them to build a business that is resilient to climate change.
In a nation where access to essential services remains a significant challenge, particularly in rural areas, LAPO MfB has emerged as a beacon of purpose-driven finance. Its strategy elevates traditional financial inclusion into a comprehensive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitment, demonstrating that the best customer service is providing the tools for self-sufficiency.
For most Nigerians, especially the 85 million living without grid electricity, getting power is not a transaction—it’s a struggle. Recognizing this deep-seated need, LAPO launched its Environmental Green Clean Lending Initiative in 2017. This program is a prime example of customer service innovation, leveraging microfinance to directly solve a core consumer problem: energy access.
Instead of just offering basic loans, LAPO provides specially designed, affordable credit for products like solar home systems, clean cookstoves, and solar-powered freezers. This initiative has been a transformative act of customer care, resulting in the financing of over 751,000 clean energy products with disbursements exceeding ₦19.9 billion.
“When a rural entrepreneur gets a solar-powered freezer, it’s not just a loan; it’s the gift of productivity and preserved goods,” a bank representative noted. “That’s customer service that changes lives.”
The bank even empowers its clients to become distributors of these green products, effectively turning customers into partners who extend clean energy access within their own communities. This approach showcases service excellence: providing a life-changing product, ensuring quality through partnerships with certified solar companies, and creating a new income stream for the client—all simultaneously.
LAPO’s commitment to its customers extends far beyond financial products. The bank views education and skill-building as essential forms of long-term customer support. Since 2008, the LAPO Microfinance Bank Scholarship and Skills Acquisition Award has supported over 4,114 beneficiaries, disbursing ₦612.7 million in grants.
In December 2024, at the 16th edition of the awards, 185 beneficiaries received academic scholarships and 65 were supported for vocational training. This investment directly addresses the customer’s need for a better future, securing their ability to be financially independent.
As Mrs. Cynthia Ikponmwosa, the Managing Director, emphasized, “Beyond scholarships, LAPO is dedicated to offering a comprehensive range of financial products and services that empower underserved communities… Through financial inclusion and quick loan approvals, we continue to enable Nigerians to achieve their dreams.”
This fusion of educational support, quick loan accessibility, and financial literacy training—including for the 84,000 female clients onboarded in the first half of 2025—is a testament to a service philosophy that focuses on nurturing the full potential of every individual.
What truly sets LAPO’s customer service model apart is its deep commitment to sustainability, ensuring the welfare of its customers and the environment they live in. By embedding climate risk mitigation platforms into its core banking solutions, the bank is de-risking its portfolio for over six million customers—a silent but critical form of customer protection.
Key initiatives, driven by strategic partnerships, showcase this commitment:
Clean Water Access: A $200,000 grant from Water.org is expanding LAPO’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) programme across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, directly improving the health and dignity of its client base.
Climate Resilience: Partnerships with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have resulted in planting 3,500 trees and training 20 women on organic manure composition—actions that mitigate climate change and provide customers with new agricultural skills.
Affordable Housing: The bank facilitates the Easy Home project with Lafarge, with ₦21.2 billion disbursed since its inception, recognizing that a stable home is the foundation of a stable customer.
In every loan, every training session, and every partnership, LAPO Microfinance Bank demonstrates a customer service model that is truly revolutionary. It’s not just about providing finance; it’s about providing clean energy (SDG 7), clean water (SDG 6), quality education, and gender equality (SDG 5).
This Customer Service Week, as we celebrate the tireless efforts of frontline teams, LAPO Microfinance Bank serves as a powerful reminder that the most meaningful service is the one that invests in a customer’s future, lighting up their path to a sustainable tomorrow, one green loan and one scholarship at a time.
