The President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Mr. Ken Opara has said that the banking industry is setting up a $20 million human capital fund to groom and nurture financial innovation in the industry.
The CIBN and the Africa Export Import (Afrexim) Academy recently executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to run a capacity building and certification programme in the area of trade and finance.
Speaking at the CIBN 2023 annual lecture themed: ‘Unlocking the constraints to Africa’s economic transformation: Insights into the power of capital’ held in Lagos, Opara said: “The banking industry is setting up a $20 million human capital fund for the purpose of grooming and nurturing a pool of financial innovative market ready workforce for the Nigerian Banking Industry.
“Furthermore, the Institute is embarking on a banking school project that will be constructed on the institute’s six hectares of land in Ogun State that will serve as a metric ton for the training and development of new and existing workforce in the industry.”
In his keynote address on the theme of the lecture, the President, Africa Export Import, Afrexim, Bank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, noted that although Africa has about $500 billion stashed away in foreign banks, the same countries cannot easily borrow from the same foreign banks that hold the resources, on excuse of compliance and country risk constraints that are hardly mentioned when the funds are being deposited.
He recommended that African governments, policy makers and financial institutions should among other things harmonize banking regulations , accelerate the creation of the African Central Bank and that at the continental level, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocol on services should at some point, consider the portability of banking licenses so that banks can operate across borders seamlessly.