NDIC moves to address emerging issues, challenges in banking sector

The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) said it is adopting strategies to consolidate gains from the recently concluded banking sector reforms by addressing emerging issues and challenges which affect the future performance of the sector and their attendant consequences to the depositors, supervision and regulation.

Umaru Ibrahim, managing director, NDIC, listed those emerging challenges to include: sustainable banking, financial inclusion, new disclosures, and reporting policies, enhancement of the payment system and development of the capital market, among others.

Ibrahim was speaking on Wednesday in Abuja at the corporation’s annual board retreat organised to build the capacity of the board members and some key departmental directors on some of these emerging issues.

At the retreat, Ibrahim maintained that keeping track of recent developments in the country’s financial system and understanding the reasons for adopting certain policy measures at different points in time would assist tremendously in shaping their collective judgements and improving their strategic thinking and decision making that would better the system.

His words, “The focus of the retreat is for the corporation to examine trends in the financial sector, especially the banking sector to address emerging issues like sustainability, sustainable banking, financial inclusion and reform of the payment system, among others.

“These are wide ranging issues, which will help us re-strategise and address them as time goes because everybody appreciates that the banking reforms have been quite successful and we now have fairly stable and robust banking system but then going forward, we have to continue to address certain challenges that will emerge”.

“Last year, the Bankers’ Committee, the CBN and NDIC signed up a declaration to support sustainability in the banking system in the country and we are encouraging banks to ensure that in adopting their lending policies and extending credits to their clients, they ensure that measures are taken not to endanger the environment.

“Sustainability also relates to good corporate responsibility as well as good governance, gender equality, good working environment, ethics, and many other issues”, he explained.

Corroborating Ibrahim’s views, Hassan Adamu, chairman, NDIC, noted that the retreat provided the board members the opportunity to rub minds on the way forward and particularly help them improve on the quality of their policies and decisions to be able to deliver on the corporation’s mandate.