South African micro lender Blue Financial Services, and Nigeria heavyweight Intercontinental Bank is establishing a new company called Blue Intercontinental Micro Finance Bank (BIMFB).

The Central Bank of Nigeria recently granted its permission for the launch of the company.

BIMFB will roll out its micro finance products in Intercontinental's 280 branches over the next few weeks. Stand alone branches will also be established systematically.

According to an earlier statement by Blue, Nigeria's banking market is significantly under-served with limited product offerings. Nigeria has 25 banks but lending to individuals is less than 10%.

Dave van Niekerk, Blue CEO says the company wants to provide affordable credit solutions to Africa's blue-collar workers.

Blue's entry into the Nigerian market has brought the number of African countries where it operates to twelve and made the company the biggest micro lender in Africa.