Credit Reporting System & Collateral Registry Education Awareness Campaign
SITUATION
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) needed to promote responsible lending and borrowing while addressing some of the most common issues that consumers and micro-, small-, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) have regarding their personal and business finances.
TASK
C&F Porter Novelli was mandated to create awareness and understanding of the new tools available to access credit through the collateral registry and the credit reporting system.
APPROACHES
Research was conducted to understand the awareness, perceptions, and behavior of MSMEs about access to finance and financial services. It aimed to gain an understanding of the current knowledge and use of credit, credit information, credit bureau services, and collateral in Nigeria. The research is presented in the publication: ‘’ The Credit Crunch: How the Use of Movable Collateral and Credit Reporting Can Help Finance Inclusive Economic Growth in Nigeria’’ Based on the findings, a campaign was developed. Tactics included interactive forums, radio and TV appearances, Op-Eds, media education workshops, radio advertisements, social media campaigns, and speaking engagements at stakeholder events. A stakeholder coalition comprising associations from the financial institutions and MSME categories was created to provide support by rallying members nationwide to the campaign activities.
RESULTS
By the end of the campaign, the National Collateral Registry had attracted N392b worth of financing statements. Editorial publicity across all platforms on the Credit Reporting System and Collateral Registry Education and Awareness Campaign was positive during the actual launch period. Aggregation of conversations on digital media -forums, news sites, as well as social media platforms on issues relating to and emanating from the communication activities during the period resulted in 25, 34m impressions with 11, 50m people reached. Over 50% increase in awareness, understanding, and acceptance levels was achieved.