Dr. Godwin Eseiwi Ehigiamusoe is the founder of Lift Above Poverty Organisation, widely known as LAPO, and the institutional architect behind one of Nigeria’s most significant microfinance networks. His work helped move financial services for low-income Nigerians from the margins of charity and informal lending into a regulated, scalable business model involving banking, insurance, healthcare, leasing, training and social development.
Ehigiamusoe’s importance lies not simply in founding LAPO, but in developing an ecosystem around the economic realities of poor households and micro-businesses. Beginning with a modest rural initiative in Delta State in the late 1980s, LAPO evolved into a national microfinance bank, expanded into Sierra Leone and built associated institutions serving low-income communities.
This profile is independently researched from publicly available company records, regulatory material, institutional publications, interviews and reputable business reporting. Where historical accounts differ, the discrepancy is identified.
The Builder at a Glance
| Field | Verified information |
|---|---|
| Name | Dr. Godwin Eseiwi Ehigiamusoe, commonly identified publicly as Godwin Ehigiamusoe |
| Known for | Building LAPO and advancing microfinance, financial inclusion and social enterprise in Nigeria |
| Founder | Lift Above Poverty Organisation, or LAPO |
| Founder of associated business | LAPO Microfinance Bank and other LAPO-related enterprises |
| Current role | Founder of LAPO; publicly active in microfinance advocacy and institutional development |
| Major institutions | Lift Above Poverty Organisation, LAPO Microfinance Bank, LAPO Microfinance Company Sierra Leone, LAPO Institute for Microfinance and Management Studies, and related health, insurance and leasing entities |
| Core industries | Microfinance, financial inclusion, micro-insurance, healthcare, micro-leasing, education and social development |
| Origin of LAPO | Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, in the late 1980s. LAPO’s own materials describe the initiative as emerging in the late 1980s, while other accounts identify 1987 as the operational start |
| Formal NGO incorporation | 1993, according to company and industry histories |
| Bank incorporation | April 2007 |
| State microfinance licence | 2010 |
| National microfinance licence | 2012 |
| Headquarters | Lagos, Nigeria, for LAPO Microfinance Bank; LAPO’s historic roots are in Edo and Delta States |
| Education | Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, master’s degree in Development Studies, doctorate in Policy and Development Studies, and a diploma in Cooperative Thrift and Credit Management |
| Professional designation | Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, FCIB |
| Selected recognition | Grameen Foundation Award for Excellence in Microfinance, 2006; FATE Foundation Model Entrepreneur Award, 2008; Schwab Foundation Outstanding Social Entrepreneur for Africa, 2010 |
| Books | Understanding NGOs, Poverty and Microfinance in Nigeria, Issues in Microfinance: Enhancing Financial Inclusion, It Can Be Done, and Touching Lives: My LAPO Journey |
LAPO’s official biography identifies Ehigiamusoe as its founder and records his academic qualifications, executive education and awards.
The Story Behind the Builder
The story of Godwin Ehigiamusoe is inseparable from the economic crisis Nigeria faced in the 1980s. Falling oil revenue, public-sector retrenchment, currency devaluation and the Structural Adjustment Programme placed pressure on households that had little access to formal credit, insurance or social services.
Ehigiamusoe encountered this environment not as an outside investor, but as a rural cooperative officer. His early professional work exposed him to the financial limitations of farmers, petty traders and low-income households. The problem was not merely that people lacked money. They lacked institutions willing to understand their businesses, assess their needs and provide appropriately sized financial services.
LAPO began as a poverty-focused development organisation. Its original purpose combined credit access with health awareness and social empowerment. Over time, the organisation developed a system of related institutions, including regulated microfinance, micro-insurance, healthcare, leasing and enterprise development.
The transition from a small nonprofit initiative to a national financial institution required more than a compelling social mission. It required regulation, governance, risk controls, institutional capital, technology, staff development and the ability to manage a large loan portfolio. That institutional transition is the central business story of Ehigiamusoe’s career.
Before the Business
Publicly available accounts indicate that Ehigiamusoe was born in 1958 in Ugha, Edo State, to farming parents. This detail is reported in a review of his 2021 autobiography, Touching Lives: My LAPO Journey, but should be treated as biographical information drawn from secondary reporting rather than a fully independent civil record.
His formal education followed a path relevant to development work and financial inclusion. LAPO identifies him as holding a bachelor’s degree in Sociology, a master’s degree in Development Studies, a doctorate in Policy and Development Studies, and a diploma in Cooperative Thrift and Credit Management. He also attended executive programmes at Harvard Kennedy School, Lagos Business School, IESE Business School in Barcelona and ISEAD Business School in Singapore.
In April 1985, he joined the Cooperative Societies Division of the Bendel State Ministry of Commerce and Industry, according to a BusinessDay review of his autobiography. He later worked as a rural cooperative officer in Ogwashi-Uku, where the practical foundations of LAPO were formed.
This background matters because Ehigiamusoe’s later business model was not based solely on conventional commercial banking. It reflected experience with cooperatives, rural economies, informal businesses and community-level financial relationships.
The Problem He Set Out to Solve
LAPO emerged against the backdrop of Nigeria’s Structural Adjustment Programme, introduced in 1986. LAPO’s own historical account links the organisation’s formation to the effects of currency devaluation, subsidy removal, public-sector rationalisation and the resulting rise in poverty.
The market failure was clear:
- Commercial banks were generally designed for customers with formal income, collateral and documentation.
- Low-income traders and farmers needed small, frequent and flexible loans.
- Women operating micro-businesses were often excluded from formal finance.
- Informal lenders could charge high prices or provide unreliable access.
- Poor households faced health risks that could destroy business capital.
- Credit without training, savings and social support could produce limited long-term improvement.
LAPO’s response was to combine financial services with broader development interventions. Its stated areas of focus include credit, financial inclusion, micro-insurance, micro-leasing, healthcare, enterprise development and social empowerment.
Building LAPO
From rural initiative to institution
The dating of LAPO’s origin varies across public sources. LAPO’s official history describes Ehigiamusoe as initiating the organisation in Ogwashi-Uku in the late 1980s. Other accounts identify 1987 as the year operations began, while a sector case study refers to 1986 as the organisation’s starting point. LAPO was formally incorporated as a nonprofit, nongovernmental organisation in 1993.
The most defensible formulation is that LAPO began operating as a rural development initiative in the late 1980s and was formally incorporated in 1993.
In a 2015 interview, Ehigiamusoe said he started with ₦300, which he used to provide small loans to two women and a young woman in Ogwashi-Uku. He described collecting repayments around traditional market days. That account illustrates the initial operating model: small-ticket lending, close contact with borrowers and repayment structures adapted to informal commerce.
The early LAPO model was not a conventional branch-bank model. It relied on relationships, field officers, local knowledge and borrower groups. Its primary customers were low-income people whose businesses were too small for mainstream commercial banks but large enough to benefit from working capital.
Becoming a regulated microfinance bank
As LAPO expanded, its social mission required a more durable institutional structure. LAPO Microfinance Bank was incorporated as a limited liability company in April 2007. It received approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate as a regulated state microfinance bank in 2010 and became a national microfinance bank in 2012.
The transition changed the organisation’s capabilities. A regulated bank could mobilise deposits, provide a wider range of financial services and build a more formal balance sheet. It also brought greater regulatory obligations involving capital, governance, reporting, risk management and customer protection.
The CBN’s 2010 publication on microfinance banking identifies LAPO among institutions established or converted within the framework of Nigeria’s microfinance reforms. LAPO’s own company history confirms the state licence in 2010 and national upgrade in 2012.
Expansion and professionalisation
By 2010, LAPO was already serving more than 247,000 clients through 235 branches in 23 states, according to an AMSCO case account. By November 2012, the same source reported more than 750,000 clients across 26 states.
These historical figures should not be confused with current customer or branch numbers. They show the pace of LAPO’s expansion during the period in which it moved from a development organisation into a nationwide financial institution.
The organisation’s expansion also required external expertise. In a 2026 speech, Ehigiamusoe recalled inviting MicroRate USA to conduct an institutional review, implementing the gaps identified in the review and developing a growth plan that helped attract funding.
That account provides an important insight into the less visible work behind LAPO’s growth. The company’s scaling was not simply the result of opening branches. It involved institutional diagnostics, governance improvements, financial controls and the development of systems that could satisfy capital providers.
Capital-market funding
In 2018, LAPO became the first Nigerian microfinance bank reported to have raised funds from the capital market through a ₦3.15 billion five-year senior unsecured bond listed on the FMDQ OTC platform. The bond carried a fixed coupon of 17.75 percent.
Capital-market access was significant for two reasons. First, it provided a source of funding beyond customer deposits and development finance. Second, it indicated that microfinance could be presented to institutional investors as a structured financial business rather than only a charitable activity.
In 2024, GCR Ratings assigned LAPO Microfinance Bank national-scale ratings of BBB-(NG) and A3(NG), with a negative outlook at the time. The rating also covered a ₦6.2 billion Series 2 bond issue.
Geographic expansion
LAPO expanded beyond Nigeria through LAPO Microfinance Company in Sierra Leone. In April 2021, the International Finance Corporation announced an advisory partnership intended to help LAPO assess expansion into other African markets, including fragile and less-developed economies.
At the time, IFC reported that LAPO’s Nigerian and Sierra Leonean microfinance operations had more than 495 branches and served over 800,000 customers. It also reported that women-owned micro-enterprises represented about 70 percent of clients in LAPO’s existing microfinance operations.
The IFC partnership is important because it demonstrates that LAPO’s model was being considered for replication outside Nigeria. It also shows that the organisation’s target market remained closely linked to women, rural communities, low-income earners and micro-businesses.
The Business Model
LAPO’s core commercial model is financial intermediation for customers at the lower end of the formal financial system.
Customers
The customer base includes petty traders, micro and small businesses, smallholder farmers, low-income households and women-led enterprises. LAPO’s products have historically included working-capital loans, asset finance, agricultural finance, education loans, savings and other deposit products.
Revenue model
The microfinance bank generates revenue primarily through interest and fees from loans and other banking services. It also mobilises deposits and uses those funds, alongside institutional and capital-market funding, to finance lending.
The model depends on high-volume lending, disciplined repayment, effective field operations and control of credit losses. Small loans can become commercially viable when distribution costs, repayment systems and portfolio quality are managed at scale.
Distribution
LAPO has traditionally relied heavily on its physical branch and field-officer network. That network helps the bank reach customers who may not be fully served by digital-only platforms. The bank has also pursued digitalisation and announced plans to strengthen mobile and app-based services.
A 2025 report said LAPO had disbursed ₦237 billion in loans during 2024 and planned to grow its loan book significantly by targeting younger customers through a banking app. These figures and plans were reported by the publication as company-directed information and should not be treated as independently audited results.
Competitive position
LAPO’s competitive advantage appears to rest on four assets:
- Long operating experience in low-income and informal markets.
- A large branch and field distribution network.
- Brand recognition among microfinance customers.
- An institutional ecosystem connecting banking with insurance, health and social development.
The same model also creates risks. A large physical network can be expensive to maintain, while lending to vulnerable borrowers exposes the bank to inflation, income volatility, repayment stress and weak collateral.
The Builder’s Strategy
Publicly available evidence suggests that Ehigiamusoe pursued a strategy of institutionalising a social mission rather than keeping LAPO permanently dependent on grants.
The first strategic decision was to treat low-income people as customers with economic agency. LAPO did not frame them solely as beneficiaries of charity. Its lending model sought to provide capital to traders, farmers and micro-business owners and to recover the loans through structured repayment.
The second was diversification. LAPO’s official materials describe a system involving microfinance, micro-insurance, healthcare, micro-leasing, enterprise development and social empowerment. This structure reflects the reality that poverty is not caused by a single shortage of credit. Health shocks, lack of productive assets, weak business skills and social exclusion can all undermine a household’s ability to repay or grow.
The third was regulatory formalisation. The creation of LAPO Microfinance Bank and its progression from a state to a national licence allowed the organisation to operate within a regulated financial framework. That expansion also required the founder to move from direct founder-led operations towards professional management and governance.
The fourth was institutional self-assessment. Ehigiamusoe’s 2026 account of using MicroRate’s review indicates that external evaluation was used to identify organisational weaknesses and create a growth plan. This is evidence of a strategy based on diagnostic review and operational reform rather than expansion by instinct alone.
Major Challenges and Turning Points
Poverty and macroeconomic pressure
LAPO’s original operating environment was shaped by structural adjustment, unemployment, inflation and weak public services. Those conditions created demand for microfinance but also made borrowers vulnerable to repayment difficulties.
Credit risk
Ehigiamusoe has repeatedly identified bad loans as a major risk to microfinance institutions. In 2019, he said loan assets accounted for roughly 80 percent of LAPO’s total assets and warned that repayment problems could threaten the sector.
The concentration of assets in loans is structurally logical for a microfinance bank, but it also means that asset quality is central to institutional stability.
Governance and regulatory concerns
A 2009 PlanetRating assessment of LAPO’s earlier operations raised concerns about governance checks and balances, potential conflicts of interest and the risks associated with savings operations before full banking formalisation.
Those findings relate to an earlier stage of LAPO’s history and should not automatically be applied to its current governance. They are nevertheless relevant because they show the institutional challenges that arise when a fast-growing social enterprise transitions into regulated finance.
Funding and liquidity
GCR’s November 2024 rating assigned LAPO a negative outlook. Later reporting on a 2025 GCR review said the bank maintained strong capitalisation but faced liquidity concerns, including low liquid-asset coverage relative to customer deposits.
The ratings do not establish insolvency or wrongdoing. They highlight the continuing tension between rapid loan growth, funding costs, deposit stability and the need to maintain sufficient liquid assets.
Leadership transition
Ehigiamusoe stepped aside from the chief executive role at LAPO Microfinance Bank around 2019 and was reported to have fully left the managing director position by 2020. BusinessDay described the change as an opportunity for younger colleagues to lead with fresh ideas.
The transition is a significant point in the institution’s history. It suggests an effort to separate the founder’s continuing influence from the day-to-day management of the regulated bank.
Beyond the Original Business
The broader LAPO ecosystem includes institutions connected to microfinance, insurance, healthcare, leasing, education and social development.
Publicly available profiles identify Goxi Microinsurance Company as part of the group’s insurance activities and describe it as an early licensed microinsurance operator serving low-income customers. A related healthcare venture, LifeActionPlus HMO, identifies itself as a LAPO Group subsidiary.
The Benin Medical Centre was established in 2019 as a healthcare and diagnostic facility in Benin City, according to the Ehi Centre founder profile.
LAPO also operates or supports training and knowledge-development activities through the LAPO Institute for Microfinance and Management Studies. In August 2026, the institute hosted a Microfinance Leadership Roundtable at which Ehigiamusoe spoke about scaling, governance, financial controls, risk management, human capital and technology.
These activities should not be presented as unrelated philanthropy. They form part of a broader institutional theory: low-income communities need access to capital, protection from shocks, healthcare and knowledge, not loans alone.
The Numbers Behind the Builder
The figures below are presented with their dates and source limitations.
| Metric | Figure | Date and source |
|---|---|---|
| LAPO operating origin | Late 1980s, with 1987 often cited | LAPO official history and secondary accounts |
| Formal NGO incorporation | 1993 | Nairametrics and industry histories, reported in 2018 and 2019 |
| LAPO Microfinance Bank incorporation | April 2007 | LAPO company history |
| State microfinance licence | 2010 | LAPO and CBN materials |
| National microfinance status | 2012 | LAPO company history |
| Clients | More than 800,000 | April 2021, IFC announcement, Nigeria and Sierra Leone combined |
| Branches | More than 495 | April 2021, IFC announcement, Nigeria and Sierra Leone combined |
| Women-owned enterprises among clients | About 70 percent | April 2021, LAPO statement reported by IFC |
| Loan disbursement in 2024 | ₦237 billion | Reported February 2025; company figure, not independently verified in the report |
| Reported customer base | 6.4 million | May 2025, company-reported figure |
| Reported branches | 536 across 34 states and the FCT | May 2025, company-reported figure |
| Reported employees | 7,024 | May 2025, company-reported figure |
| Reported loan portfolio | ₦106.2 billion | May 2025, company-reported figure |
| Reported total assets | More than ₦124 billion | May 2025, company-reported figure |
| 2024 GCR long-term rating | BBB-(NG), negative outlook | 25 November 2024 |
| 2024 GCR short-term rating | A3(NG), negative outlook | 25 November 2024 |
| 2018 bond issue | ₦3.15 billion | Reported April 2018 |
| 2024 GCR-reviewed total assets | ₦125 billion | 31 December 2024, as reported in September 2025 |
The 2025 operating figures should be labelled as self-reported rather than audited unless supported by a published annual report. The difference between the 2024 asset figure reported by GCR-related coverage and the 2025 company-reported figure also illustrates why each statistic needs a date and source label.
Awards and Recognition
Ehigiamusoe’s recognition has come from both the microfinance sector and broader entrepreneurship institutions.
LAPO received the Grameen Foundation Award for Excellence in Microfinance in 2006. The award was significant because Grameen was closely associated with the global development of modern microfinance, making the recognition relevant to LAPO’s operating model rather than simply its public profile.
Ehigiamusoe received the FATE Foundation’s Model Entrepreneur Award for Nigeria in 2008 and the Schwab Foundation’s Outstanding Social Entrepreneur for Africa Award in 2010. LAPO’s official biography also records a Lagos Business School Distinguished Alumni Award in 2014, shared with former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, and an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Benin in 2016.
LAPO Microfinance Bank was recognised as Microfinance Bank of the Year and Best Microfinance Bank in Support of MSMEs at the 2025 Industry Awards. The awards and the bank’s operating figures were reported by BusinessDay, although the publication noted that some operational claims had not been independently verified by regulators.
Education and Thought Leadership
Ehigiamusoe has written extensively on the institutional and social dimensions of development. His publicly listed books include:
- Understanding NGOs, 1998.
- Poverty and Microfinance in Nigeria, 2000.
- Issues in Microfinance: Enhancing Financial Inclusion, 2011.
- It Can Be Done: The Mind Behind LAPO.
- Touching Lives: My LAPO Journey, 2021.
His writing is important because it provides a record of how he understood the relationship between poverty, financial systems, nonprofit institutions and enterprise development. Touching Lives is a 381-page autobiographical account of LAPO’s development, according to an academic review.
His public interventions have also focused on the professionalisation of microfinance. In August 2026, he argued that institutions seeking to scale must strengthen governance, financial controls, risk management, technology and human capital.
The Builder’s Playbook
Start with a specific market failure
LAPO began by addressing a clearly defined problem: low-income people and micro-businesses lacked access to suitable credit and related services. The lesson is grounded in the organisation’s origins as a rural development initiative rather than in a generic ambition to “help people.”
Build for institutional durability
The transition from NGO to regulated microfinance bank demonstrates that social impact organisations need systems capable of surviving their founders. Licensing, governance, financial controls and professional management became as important as the original social mission.
Use external scrutiny to improve
Ehigiamusoe’s account of commissioning a MicroRate review indicates that independent institutional assessment was used to identify weaknesses and shape a growth plan. The practical lesson is that scaling requires willingness to expose the organisation to outside evaluation.
Match product design to customer reality
LAPO’s early lending model used small loans, field collection and market-based repayment relationships. That approach reflected the cash flows of informal businesses more closely than conventional collateral-based banking.
Treat inclusion as an ecosystem
LAPO’s development of banking, insurance, leasing, healthcare and social programmes suggests that financial inclusion is more durable when customers can access protection and productive services alongside credit.
Plan for succession
Ehigiamusoe’s departure from the chief executive position created space for new management while he retained a founder role. A founder-led institution becomes more durable when operational leadership can change without destroying the organisation’s identity.
Where They Are Today
As of August 2026, Ehigiamusoe is publicly identified by LAPO as its founder rather than the chief executive of LAPO Microfinance Bank. LAPO Microfinance Bank’s current website identifies Cynthia Iranmwinran Ikponmwosa as its chief executive, while the LAPO organisation lists Faith Negbe Osazuwa-Ojo as president and chief operating officer.
Ehigiamusoe remains involved in the broader LAPO ecosystem and continues to speak publicly on microfinance, governance and institutional growth. His August 2026 appearance at the LAPO Institute’s leadership roundtable indicates an ongoing role in sector thought leadership and organisational development.
The bank’s current public positioning combines its traditional microfinance customer base with efforts to expand digital channels, serve younger customers and deepen deposit mobilisation. Reports also describe a network of more than 500 branches across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory, though the exact current figure should be confirmed against the latest audited annual report before publication updates.
What Comes Next
The most clearly documented future direction is LAPO’s emphasis on institutional scaling and digitalisation.
Publicly reported plans have included the development of a banking app aimed at younger customers, expansion of digital services, broader deposit mobilisation and growth beyond the traditional perception of LAPO as a lender to petty traders.
Ehigiamusoe’s 2026 address also points to a continuing agenda of sector reform. He urged microfinance leaders to undertake independent diagnostic reviews and strengthen governance, risk management, controls, technology and human capital.
No unsupported claim is made here about a specific new country, acquisition, investment or product launch.
Brands.Ng Perspective
Godwin Ehigiamusoe’s significance is best understood through the institutional scale of the problem he chose to address. He did not invent poverty lending in Nigeria, nor did LAPO operate without challenges. The organisation has faced the same questions that confront many microfinance institutions: credit risk, liquidity, governance, regulatory compliance, operating costs and the difficulty of converting social purpose into a sustainable financial model.
What distinguishes his career is the attempt to build a durable institution around financial inclusion. LAPO moved from a small rural development initiative to a regulated national microfinance bank, entered Sierra Leone, accessed capital-market funding and developed related institutions in insurance, healthcare, leasing and social development.
The strongest lesson is not that every social enterprise should become a bank. It is that meaningful scale requires an organisation to evolve. Mission may provide the reason to begin, but governance, capital, technology, risk controls and succession determine whether the institution can continue.
Fact-Check Pass
| Claim | Source | Date | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ehigiamusoe is founder of LAPO | LAPO official governance page | Accessed 2026 | High |
| LAPO began in the late 1980s | LAPO official history | Accessed 2026 | High |
| 1987 is commonly cited as the operational start | IFC and industry reporting | 2018 and 2021 | Medium-high |
| LAPO was formally incorporated as an NGO in 1993 | Nairametrics and Vanguard reports | 2018 and 2019 | Medium-high |
| LAPO Microfinance Bank was incorporated in April 2007 | LAPO official company history | Accessed 2026 | High |
| State microfinance licence obtained in 2010 | LAPO official history and CBN material | 2010 and current archive | High |
| National microfinance status obtained in 2012 | LAPO official history | Accessed 2026 | High |
| Ehigiamusoe studied Sociology and Development Studies | LAPO official biography | Accessed 2026 | High |
| Ehigiamusoe began as a rural cooperative officer | LAPO official biography and OIBL profile | Accessed 2026 | High |
| He started with ₦300 | Enterprise Africa interview | 20 December 2015 | Medium-high |
| LAPO served more than 800,000 customers through over 495 branches in 2021 | IFC announcement | 28 April 2021 | High |
| Women represented about 70 percent of existing microfinance clients in 2021 | LAPO statement reported by IFC | 28 April 2021 | High |
| LAPO issued a ₦3.15 billion bond in 2018 | Nairametrics report | April 2018 | Medium-high |
| Ehigiamusoe stepped down from the CEO role | BusinessDay and Vanguard reporting | 2019 to 2020 | High |
| LAPO operates related insurance and healthcare institutions | LAPO ecosystem profiles | Accessed 2026 | Medium-high |
| LAPO received major microfinance and social entrepreneurship awards | LAPO official biography | Accessed 2026 | High |
| LAPO’s 2024 rating was BBB-(NG)/A3(NG) with negative outlook | GCR Ratings | 25 November 2024 | High |
| LAPO had 6.4 million customers and 536 branches in 2025 | BusinessDay report citing company figures | May 2025 | Medium |
| LAPO disbursed ₦237 billion in 2024 | Startup Lagos report citing company plans and figures | February 2025 | Medium |
| Ehigiamusoe spoke on institutional reforms in August 2026 | Punch report | 3 August 2026 | High |
| Current LAPO Microfinance Bank CEO is Cynthia Iranmwinran Ikponmwosa | LAPO official website and BusinessDay | Accessed 2026; 2023 report | High |
Claims requiring periodic updating include current branch count, customer numbers, loan portfolio, assets, chief executive appointments and future digital-product plans. These should be checked against LAPO’s latest audited annual report, CBN records and official corporate announcements before each republication.
Related Entities
LAPO Microfinance Bank, Lift Above Poverty Organisation, Central Bank of Nigeria, IFC, FMDQ OTC, Grameen Foundation, FATE Foundation, Schwab Foundation, MicroRate, Lagos Business School, University of Benin, Goxi Microinsurance and LifeActionPlus HMO.
FAQ Questions
Who is Dr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe?
He is the Nigerian social entrepreneur and microfinance practitioner who founded Lift Above Poverty Organisation, known as LAPO.
When was LAPO founded?
LAPO began as a rural development initiative in the late 1980s, with 1987 commonly cited in public accounts. It was formally incorporated as an NGO in 1993.
When did LAPO become a microfinance bank?
LAPO Microfinance Bank was incorporated in 2007, received a state microfinance licence in 2010 and became a national microfinance bank in 2012.
Is Godwin Ehigiamusoe still the CEO of LAPO Microfinance Bank?
Publicly available LAPO information identifies him as founder. The bank’s website identifies Cynthia Iranmwinran Ikponmwosa as its chief executive.
What businesses are associated with LAPO?
The wider LAPO ecosystem has interests and activities in microfinance, micro-insurance, healthcare, micro-leasing, enterprise development, training and social development.
What books has Godwin Ehigiamusoe written?
His listed works include Understanding NGOs, Poverty and Microfinance in Nigeria, Issues in Microfinance: Enhancing Financial Inclusion, It Can Be Done and Touching Lives: My LAPO Journey.
Sources and Further Reading
- LAPO, “LAPO: Improving Lives”, official organisational history, accessed 2026.
- LAPO Microfinance Bank, “About Us”, official company history, accessed 2026.
- Central Bank of Nigeria, “CBN Governor Inaugurates Apex Association of Microfinance Banks”, 2010.
- International Finance Corporation, “IFC and Nigeria’s LAPO Partner to Expand Microfinance Lending”, 28 April 2021.
- Nairametrics, “LAPO Microfinance Makes History with N3.15 Billion Bond Listing”, April 2018.
- Vanguard, “Ehigiamusoe Steps Down as LAPO MD”, 22 November 2019.
- BusinessDay, “Creating Value in Nigerian Economy: Life of LAPO”, 6 August 2021.
- GCR Ratings, LAPO Microfinance Bank Rating Announcement, 25 November 2024.
- Punch, “LAPO Advocates Institutional Reforms for Microfinance Growth”, 3 August 2026.
- BusinessDay, “LAPO Microfinance Bank Disburses N1.4tn Loan to Low-Income Earners”, 18 December 2023.
- African Financial Inclusion Policy Initiative, “A Case Study of LAPO Microfinance Bank Limited”, 2017.
- BusinessDay, “LAPO Microfinance Bank Wins Industry Recognition”, 2025.
