The Bank of Industry (BoI) has secured a domestic credit rating of A- from Agusto & Co, a leading Nigerian credit rating agency. This is the first Nigerian development bank to be so rated.
By this rating, the development bank has been adjudged a financial institution with good financial condition and a strong capacity to repay obligations timely.
A statement from the bank said Agusto & Co was engaged to carry out an assessment of the bank’s performance and to issue a credit rating for the bank, based on a multitude of qualitative and quantitative factors. The objective was to provide useful benchmarks for BoI against global best practices.
“The engagement was successfully completed and a rating of A- with a Stable Outlook was issued in December 2014,” said the bank.
The bank had in 2014 commenced the implementation of a corporate transformation project leading to the development of a five-year strategic plan, which is currently being implemented.
The key strategic issues addressed by the transformation plan include diversification of the bank’s funding base, development of robust risk management systems, effective cost management, performance management systems, credit process reengineering and automation. Others are customer service delivery, new product development, loan quality, corporate governance, national coverage, and stakeholder management.
“The positive rating is an endorsement of our ongoing transformation project at BoI, and an affirmation of our strategic intent of adopting global best practices in all aspects of our operations,” Rasheed Olaoluwa, managing director, BoI, said, saying “we are determined to make increasing impact in our focus sectors and to continue to set the pace as Nigeria’s leading development bank.”
ODINAKA ANUDU
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
