By Bukola Adetoye
Lagos – The Chartered Institute Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has commended the Federal Government for introducing policies and initiatives to improve the country’s economy.
The outgoing president of CIBN, Professor Segun Ajibola, gave the commendation at the institute’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday in Lagos.
According to him, the Federal Government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2017 initiated the Foreign Exchange Policy that stimulated the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
“A Foreign Exchange Window that automatically combated foreign exchange scarcity that distorted trades in the sector was opened by CBN,” he said.
He explained that in order to facilitate access to finance, in 2017 the Federal Government also assented to the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Bill and Credit Reporting Bill among others.
Ajibola explained that over 10,000 SMEs had been able to access funds using their Movable Assets and Credit Reporting Bill 2017.
“The policies are proving effective, the World Bank Ease-of-Doing-Business Report for 2018 placed Nigeria on 145th position out of 190 countries.
“This is 24 positions better than the 169th position the country was ranked in 2017 report,” he said.
Speaking on the institute, Ajibola said building the banking workforce to better standard wasn’t smooth sailing.
He, however, said in spite of the challenging economic environment in 2017, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the institute improved from N646.24. million in 2016 to N910.75 million in 2017, representing a growth of 40.93 per cent.
“The year closed with a Net Operating Surplus (NOS) from N231.83 in 2016 to N385.12 million in 2017, reflecting 66.12.per cent increase,” said Ajibola.
According to him, the Global Banking Education Standards Board (GBEStB) was launched at the World Conference of Banking Institutes (WCBI) hosted by the institute in 2017, with more than 20 countries participating.
“The GBEStB is a voluntary and industry-led board aimed to develop internationally agreed standards for the education of professional bankers.
“It is our strategic intent which would ultimately enhance and sustain global standards of ethics and professionalism in banking worldwide.
“I’m happy to inform you the membership of GBEStB which cuts across the oceans has hit 29,” he said.
The outgoing CIBN president also said institute was cooperating with all relevant institutions and agencies to ensure adherence to ethics and professionalism.
He also said CIBN accredited over 30 Tuition Centers and Educational Training Service Providers, and has has a total of 124, 212 members nationwide at at December 2017. (NAN)
