- CBN Advises Banks, Others on Risk Management
The Central Bank of Nigeria has advised risk managers in the financial services industry and other sectors to chart a new course for the economy amid the emerging economic realities in the country.
The Governor, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, stated this at the induction of newly certified risk managers in Lagos.
According to him, the economic diversification efforts of the Federal Government must be sustained and other sectors of the economy must be developed to generate substantial revenue for the government.
The CBN governor spoke on the theme, “The challenges of modern-day risk management.’’
Emefiele, who was represented by the Director, Risk Management, CBN and Chairman, Board of Trustees, Risk Managers Association of Nigeria, Folakemi Fatogbe, said, “When we look at the medium and long-term outlook for oil prices, and see that 70 per cent of our oil goes toward filling of cars; and we see what is happening in a number of jurisdictions pictured by the likes of China, the Scandinavian countries, United Kingdom, France and their plan for electric cars, we know what our future is as risk managers where most of our lending is to the oil sector. We know that there is a challenge. That’s why at the Central Bank of Nigeria, we are trying our best to aid economic growth.”
He added, “But for you as risk managers, it means that our dependence on oil must be to diversify from oil, it must reflect in what we do so that you can familiarise with other sectors of the economy that can enable us diversify and achieve sustainable economic growth. I think it is very important.”
The President/Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Prof. Segun Ajibola, noted that risk managers had central role to play in the economy, urging them to be role models to “budding risk professionals.”
He charged the inductees to uphold the high level of ethical and professional conducts, if they would not betray the trust reposed on them as risk professional.
The Group Managing Director, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Dr. Kazeem Adeduntan, noted that enterprise risk management was a must for any financial institution in a complex and digitised world.
According to him, weak enterprise risk management framework and practices have adverse effects on institutions.
He identified organisational culture as a critical success factor for an effective risk management system.
RIMAN President, Jude Monye, said CRM was superior to the Financial Risk Manager certificate due to its local content.
As a result, he appealed to chief risk officers in various sectors of the economy to embrace the professional examination because of the critical roles they play in the economy.