Dr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe

Dr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe is an accomplished social entrepreneur and a foremost Microfinance practitioner who has applied the concept of social enterprise to successfully build a number of enterprises that address the needs of persons and businesses at the bottom end of the society. His business interests span microfinance, micro-insurance, micro-leasing, healthcare and education. Dr. Ehigiamusoe has been central to the development of Microfinance in Africa and actively participated in the formulation of the Nigerian Microfinance Policy, Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines. He has been a notable facilitator at local and international seminars and conferences on financial inclusion. Dr. Ehigiamusoe earned his first and second degrees in Sociology and Sociology of Development respectively at the University of Benin. He also holds a Doctorate degree in Policy and Development studies He has attended capacity enhancing management development programs at Harvard Kennedy School; Lagos Business School; INSEAD Business School-Singapore Campus; and IESE Business School, Barcelona. In 2006, he led LAPO to win the prestigious Grameen Foundation’s Award for Excellence in Microfinance. He won Nigeria’s Model Entrepreneur award of the FATE Foundation in 2008 and in 2010, the Professor Schwab Foundation’s ‘Outstanding Social Entrepreneur –Africa 2010 award. In 2014, Dr. Ehigiamusoe won the Lagos Business School’s Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2012, the Rotary Club of Benin honoured him for his outstanding contribution to human development while the University of Benin, Benin City also conferred on him a Doctor of Science degree (Honoris causa) in 2016. He authored Understanding NGOs (1998); Poverty and Microfinance in Nigeria (2000) and Issues in Microfinance: Enhancing Financial Inclusion (2011). Dr. Ehigiamusoe strongly believes that “Meaningful development is only possible if the people at the bottom end of the society have full economic citizenship”