Earlyface

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to implement the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBP) and the accompanying three sector guidelines on Agriculture, Power, Oil and Gas introduced in July 2012 and adopted by the Bankers’ Committee.

According to information obtained from the CBN website, the adoption of the principles by the apex bank means the integration of social and environmental considerations into its operations, policies, processes, procedures, as well as provision of structural mechanism to support implementation at the industry level.

The CBN revealed that a draft implementation plan has been developed and the Sustainable Banking) will regularly engage all employees as the apex bank moves towards being a low-carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive Bank

Meanwhile, the NSBP consists of 9 over–arching Principles for : Managing environmental and social risk in business decisions; Managing the bank’s own environmental and social footprint; Safeguarding Human Rights; Promoting women’s economic participation/empowerment; Promoting financial inclusion of communities and groups with limited or no access to the formal financial sector; Meeting the imperatives for good governance, transparency and accountability; Supporting capacity building in the sector; Promoting collaborative partnerships to accelerate sector progress and Reporting to take stock of sector progress and attendant needs.

For CBN to provide the needed leadership, a Special Adviser to the Governor on Sustainable Banking, Dr. Aisha Usman Mahmood, was appointed to drive CBN’s sustainability process.