Yemisi Izuora
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), has collaborated with the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) on capacity building and certification on sustainable banking in Nigeria
The Environmental and Social Risk Management (ERSM) Nigeria Programme Coordinator, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Mr. Ibrahim Salau, made the call at an Advocacy Dialogue Webinar, organized by the Centre for Financial Studies (CFS) of The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos, with the theme “Enhanced Sustainable Banking (ESB) Model in the Event of Major Economic and Business Disruptions’.
Salau said the objective of the program is to increase the uptake of E&S standards by FIs in the Sub-Saharan Africa region leading to a reduction in risk exposure for FIs and an improvement in the E&S performance of their clients in the long term.
He emphasized that, the program partner’s with financial services regulators and industry associations to raise awareness on the business case for E&S risk management in the financial sector, provide technical support on the development of mandatory E&S risk management standards for the financial sector and build capacity to supervise the implementation of the standards.
He stated that the curriculum for the certification programme has been approved by the CIBN Governing Council and the course will be launched later this year, he added that, a Training of Trainers (TOT) on Sustainable Banking will kick off next week with over 100 participants.
The Deputy Governor, Financial Systems Stability Directorate, CBN and Chairman of the event, Mrs. Aisha Ahmad in her address stated, that banking has been undergoing disruptions before the pandemic, as technological disruptions and competition has made banks change their business model.
‘’Banks can only manage these challenges if at this destructive event that is happening, they can fortify their big models and become more agile to respond to what’s happening in the market. And over 80 per cent of banks have incorporated sustainable banking principles in their model.” she said.
The Former Chairman, Access Bank Plc and Guest speaker, Mrs. Mosun Belo-Olusoga in her presentation stated that, the implications of the pandemic on the Nigerian economy include a rise in inflation, decline in investment such as FPI and FDI, a shrink in forex income, drop in oil revenue and a contraction in GDP which would all in turn lead to a fall in the value of the currency.
She also expressed that some of the implications for the banking sector include restrain on financial performance, movement of businesses to digital space, likely changes to board procedures and effectiveness, likely fall in Capital Adequacy Ratio below regulatory limit, decline in cash flow from loan repayment, increased fraud and cyber threats as a result of relaxed internal control etc.
She averred that, when life will get back to normal, no one knows as there is more pressure than ever for organizations to innovate and think outside the box, while the good news is that financial institutions that step up to meet these challenges will benefit from a brand and shareholder perspective.