FCMB In the Forefront of Sustainable Banking in Nigeria

The human face of First City Monument Bank, FCMB, was showcased at a media parley tagged: Sustainable Banking in Nigeria, organized by the bank, in Lagos, Tuesday. Ladi Balogun, group-managing director of FCMB, said the bank was not just about profit but also about its impact on the community in which it operates. According to him, in line with sustainable banking initiative of the bank, it has since shifted its focus to issues like empowering more women through access to financing and engaging in key positions in the bank where they constitute about 40 per cent of the entire workforce.

Balogun said the bank organized the parley to ensure that the media shifts narratives from profits of banks to issues of sustainable banking in Nigeria. “We have chosen to bring an expert to connect with you and engage you more. It is an opportunity to prove that we do like to engage our stakeholders. That is why we brought an expert to talk about sustainable banking in Nigeria. It is to show how much we value the media,” he explained.

Carey Bohjanen, managing director, Sustainable Finance Advisory, the resource person, having worked with the CBN to develop the Nigerian Sustainable Banking principles adopted by the Bankers’ Committee in 2012, charged FCMB and other banks in Nigeria to make sustainability a way of life. She said the banks should be concerned not just about what their customers are doing but also have in-depth knowledge of their products such are how raw materials are sourced. Such due diligence will ensure that the bank guards against reputation risk. “Investments have environmental impact, which may adversely affect the banks financing them. That is why due diligence is required,” she said.