The Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria (CBAN) in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) had a virtual programme on 30th June 2022 – the CIBN CBAN Stakeholders’ Conference with the theme, Enhancing Financial Inclusion in Nigeria: Changing the Narrative.
The programme covered discussions on the Impact of Access to Credit on Business Enterprises as well as Improving Business Financing through Effective Credit Reporting with a seasoned faculty that gave speeches and presentations.
The programme was co-hosted by Dr. Jameelah Sharrieff-Ayedun, the Managing Director/CEO of CreditRegistry & CBAN Chairman and Dr ‘Seye Awojobi, Ph.D. FCIB, the Registrar/Chief Executive of CIBN.
The Special Guest Speaker, Mrs Luz Maria Salamina, Principal Financial Specialist, International Finance Corporation (IFC), gave the lecture of the day. She discussed financial inclusion constraints, an innovation that occurred during COVID, the evolving credit reporting landscape which entailed new sources of data, Digitization, mew technologies, alternative data pilots and means of changing the narrative which entailed new priorities in terms of financial infrastructure and new opportunities with embedded credit. She emphasized that embedded credit contributed to financial inclusion in Nigeria and concluded with the synergy of embedded credit and the data ecosystem in Nigeria.
The faculty members who handled the two-panel sessions were as follows:
MR ADE BAJOMO
Mr. Ade Bajomo, President of Fintech Association of Nigeria gave a brief of the topic of discussion – The Impact of Access to Credit on Business Enterprises and proceeded to introduce the speakers to commence the panel discussions.
MR TONY OKPANACHI
The first-panel session was kickstarted with a presentation made by Mr. Tony Okpanachi, Managing Director of the Development Bank of Nigeria ably represented by Mr. Jeremy Dan-Okayi, Head of Strategy and Policy, Development Bank of Nigeria. He made a presentation titled “How MSMEs Can Access Funding: Opportunities from Financial Institutions/Banking Sector”. His presentation outlined the following:
- The importance of the entrepreneurial potential and critical role MSMEs play in economic growth and development in Nigeria.
- The challenges SMEs encounter in accessing bank loans.
- Different financing sources for businesses in Nigeria
- Proposed solutions – How financial institutions can assist MSMEs to submit good bankable plans for better access to credit?
- Three major DBN Products for participating financial institutions.
He concluded by reiterating the progress made so far by DBN in pursuit of its strategic objectives – more than ₦512 billion of funds disbursed, more than 225,000 MSME beneficiaries, participating financial institutions onboarded, ₦10 billion disbursed to more than 17,000 MSMEs in economically-disadvantaged regions in Nigeria etc.
MR JOHNSON SEHINDE SAMUEL
Mr. Johnson Sehinde Samuel, MD/CEO, Infinity Paints International discussed his experience with the use of credit and his point of view on ways that better access to credit can be promoted to benefit business owners.
MR OLADIMEJI O. PETERS
Mr. Oladimeji O. Peters, the Ag. MD/CEO of FirstCentral Credit Bureau spoke on the importance of having good “financial character”, as it was vital in obtaining loans from financial institutions. He noted that growth had been recorded in the credit system in Nigeria but there was a lot of room for improvement to ensure the financial inclusion expanded to the grassroots. He concluded that more awareness initiatives had to be engaged in to achieve better access to credit, particularly to MSMEs.
DR FATUMATA SOUKOUNA COKER
The second panel session was moderated by Dr Fatumata Soukouna Coker, the Chairman of Afrinvest Securities Limited who gave a brief of the topic of discussion – Improving Business Financing through Effective Credit Reporting and proceeded to introduce the speakers to commence the panel discussions.
MR SEGUN ALEBIOSU
Mr. Segun Alebiosu, the Chief Risk Officer of First Bank of Nigeria kickstarted the panel session as he gave a brief of his views from his perspective as a Banker on areas that business financing can be improved with the utilization of the Credit Reporting System, highlighting on how this could affect the business terrain in the long run.
MRS RONKE KUYE
Mrs Ronke Kuye, CEO of Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities Limited (SANEF), ably represented by Mrs Uche Uzoebo, Chief Distribution & Stakeholder Engagement Officer, SANAF gave her brief on the topic, from her viewpoint of being in an organization that encourages financial inclusion.
DR TUNDE POPOOLA
Dr Tunde Popoola, the Group Managing Director/CEO of CRC Credit Bureau gave a presentation that covered the following sub-topics:
- Why is Business Financing important?
- Empirical Role of Credit Reporting in Business Financing
- What Credit Reporting Do
- Products and Services of Credit Bureaus
- Support Business Financing
- Strengthening Credit Reporting in Nigeria
He concluded by stating that the utilization of credit bureau products and services should be encouraged particularly in the MSME sector as this would inevitably boost business growth and the Nigerian economy.
The programme was concluded with a questions and answers session, and the closing remarks were given by the Director of Banking Supervision, Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr Haruna B. Mustafa.
The programme was moderated by the Executive Secretary of the Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria.
