LAPO, which stands for Lift Above Poverty Organization, was founded by Mr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe in 1987 inspired by the philosophy of Grameen. LAPO believes that poverty is not just material deprivation but also social exclusion and poor health, both of which reinforces the grip of poverty and erodes the gains of access to financial services by the poor. With this in mind, LAPO was established to empower the poor women to break out of the grip of poverty by enhancing their income-generating capacity through microcredit services and self esteem-enhancing programs.

LAPO, which is one of the leading microfinance organizations in Nigeria, has been a strong supporter of Grameen since its inception. It has been a partner of Grameen Trust since 1992 through the receipt of seed capital fund. Based on its successful loan utilization, Grameen Trust approved scaling up fund for its Uromi branch in 2000. LAPO has been very successful in serving the poor in Nigeria by providing them with the opportunity to improve their livelihoods.

For the benefit of its members, LAPO has been providing variety of loans and savings products including seasonal and festival loans, credit-for-shares product, mandatory and voluntary savings products. The most popular loan products are the regular, farming and festival loans. LAPO Nigeria disbursed N$13 billion, or USD$89 million in 2009, an increase of 45% over the N$ 9.2 billion, or USD$ 61 million, disbursed in 2008. Additionally, member savings increased by 64% from N$2.96 billion in 2008 to N$4.85billion (USD $27million) in 2009. LAPO embarked on expanding its network in this year. The number of branches rose from 171 to 234 between 2008 and 2009.