Grooming Centre’s service delivery methodology is based on international best practices in microfinance delivery, and is essentially an adaptation of the ASA Bangladesh methodology to local market conditions.

ASA Bangladesh is the fastest growing microfinance institution in the world and was adjudged the most Sustainable Microfinance Institution in 2008 by the prestigious Financial Times and International Finance Corporation (IFC), and awarded the winner of Banking at the Bottom of the Pyramid for the same year. The ASA methodology was introduced to Nigeria in 2000 through a pioneer technical assistance programme between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is presently operational in some eight institutions.

The founders of Grooming Centre who played a major role in the pioneer initiative have further modified the methodology by incorporating positive cultural traits, thereby improving the level of efficiency and effectiveness of the methodology in Nigeria as underlined by the excellent performance of the Centre.

Grooming Centre, as a membership organization, emphasizes membership and group quality as an essential ingredient to achieving sustainable growth. Groups are formed on self selection basis and guided by basic social and economic indicators, such as household income, nutritional status, type of residence and commitment to change through viable micro-enterprise activities. Whereas the group structure facilitates group dynamics, provides easy access to members, and healthy competition amongst members, the optimal utilization of the loan facility and repayment remain the primary responsibility of the individual client. These responsibilities are emphasized during the pre-loan training, which exposes clients to the Centre’s vision and mission, products, eligibility criteria, procedures for accessing loan facility, loan size, repayment procedure, and tips on effective utilization and management of loans.

Groups are consolidated into branch networks distributed across defined Areas and Divisions.