How can Nigeria’s economy be strenghtened? It is when business and political leaders focus on building sustainable institutions and processes that outlive them, say participants at the inaugural conference hosted by Access Bank in Lagos. They want banks to focus on long-term profits to stimulate the economy, COLLINS NWEZE reports.
Building strong institutions, systems, processes and quality leadership are essential for Nigeria to develop and achieve its economic potentials, Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minster of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said.
The minister spoke during the inaugural Access Conference 2013 in Lagos. According to her, business and political leaders must be able to mentor youths on their experiences. She said an industrial policy on the type of cars to be used that will not pollute the environment was very important.
On sustainable finance, she said Nigeria had taken steps to ensure that the principles are implemented even though it can be difficult to implement where there are many contending forces. Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said Nigeria has done a few things such as the phasing out of subsidies, which contributes to the utilisation of more of these resources as well as results in lower yields which eventually contributes to reduction in remission. She said the country has also witnessed reduction in gas flaring which is a contributor to environmental pollution by emphasising more use of gas than other sources of fuel.
Continuing, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said a politician needs to have a vision of where he is taking the country to as well as a passion to put in place steps that would take the people there. “It is not talked about often. Rather, short-term issues and diversionary issues take enormous amount of time. Going forward, this should be discussed often. The Economic Management Implementation Team discusses it, but not often. Younger people should take personal responsibility for themselves and not expect government to do things for them,” she said.
Banks’ profit
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said Nigeria’s banking is grounded on civil banking principles, adding that these principles are based on sustainability. He said banks should be focused on long-term profit rather than short term, adding that public offices should be made less attractive to ensure that office holders do not take advantage of their positions.
The CBN boss said Nigeria needs strong leaders that would be able to galvanise sustainable economic development and mentor new leaders. “People should separate themselves from institutions, as no one is indispensable,” he urged.
According to him, guidelines have been put in place for sectors, such as banks, oil and gas, power and agriculture to look closely on the type of businesses they do. For instance, he said banks are advised not to lend to people that are involved in bush burning adding that there is need to encourage investment in agriculture so as to conserve the environment. “Banks alone cannot carry out sustainability. Rather, they would collaborate with other sectors such as Ministry of Environment and develop guidelines, policies, regulations, trainings, finance and incentives,” he said.
Banking leadership
According to the immediate past Managing Director,Access Bank, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, the bank under his watch has grown to become the fourth among 24 lenders with a customer base of six million, and an increase of capital to $1.5 billion.
He said every leader is a child of history with experiences gained over the years deployed in influencing future leadership activities. He said a childhood experience, at age 10, of not being able to secure a seat in the aircraft on his flight back to Lagos from school, as every passenger fought their way into the aircraft, made him resolve never to be left on the tarmac again.
Speaking further, he said following a four- month study at Harvard Business School and reading a book given to him by his father-in-law on how, as a professional, one could buy your own company, he discovered that the reason behind his agitation was the desire to own the bank he worked for.
He said the dream of Access Bank was formed with a vision to create a world-class institution, owned and run by Nigerians. “An existing bank was acquired and the best hands were recruited. While I got the support of the Board and shareholders who saw credibility in me, Nigeria’s democracy which at the time was yielding dividends also influenced the success,” he said.
Aig-Imoukhuede explained that banking is a special kind of business with a responsibility for larger corporate citizenry. He said that like a school, once one has the licence to run with the name, he has secured the trust of people who commit their most treasured possession without minding personalities behind the bank.
“For a bank, people would walk in and entrust it with their savings. Outside of shareholders, depositors are a class of stakeholders that are given priority. The complication of banking is the management of depositors’ funds,” he said.
He said there is high level of inequality in the country, adding that a corporate citizen still has the responsibility of contributing to the good of the society.
Access Bank, he said, perceives itself as a flag bearer of change and has organised similar conferences in the past which has led to new laws in the country. “With her aspiration to be a world-class bank, comes the responsibility of making Nigeria world-class as the country is the natural constraint of the bank’s success. The bank thus embraces high standards in all it does,” he said.
He said as a leader, one may experience certain threats, including threat to life and family from borrowers who have refused to pay. Nonetheless, if you do the right thing, there is nothing to fear.
According to him, great leadership requires doing very bold things such as taking over a bank that is about to go under. “The acquisition of Intercontinental Bank was a tough bet and following the announcement, its share prices began to fall. The fear of failure was not out of the inability to execute the deal but in the regulator getting it right. From a study of global practices, the success of such ventures hangs on the courage of the regulator to make it happen. The leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made it happen,” he hinted.
Managing Director, Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe said the bank is a big fan of sustainability and has been involved in sustainability efforts since 2002. “Some of these initiatives are the Gender Empowerment Program, which was the first of its kind in Nigeria, and the bank was the convener of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) that is now adopted around the corporate Nigeria and Government,” he said.
Leadership by example
Chairman, Fate Foundation and Founder, GT Bank Fola Adeola said Nigerian leaders should also ensure that their actions have impact on the population. He said it is only when people’s lives are touched positively that one can say that leadership has achieved its objective.
“The challenge of leadership is the time and space needed to make decisions. Leaders should be able to answer the question of ‘Why’ behind their leadership role or task. Leaders must respond to issues that come their way. The response of a leader to an issue will determine his greatness or failure. The purpose of the leader is to engender leadership across the organisation down to the bottom. As the saying goes, leadership emanates from the top but does not reside there,” he said. He said that when you have people around you who don’t question you, you are in a dangerous terrain.
Access Bank Chairman Gbenga Oyebode said the event was essentially to discuss and share ideas on how to embrace sustainable leadership in a rapidly growing economy like Nigeria. The Access Conference aspires to capture the essence of good, sustainable leadership, highlighting what it means to be a leader in today’s world.
He said former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela epitomised the concept of sustainable leadership as shown in the fight for unity in diversity, his resourcefulness and his conservatism. He said Access Bank is committed to sustainable leadership, which can only be achieved by building sustainable leaders across the country’s landscape. Sustainable development must be an integral part of any economy for it to succeed.
He said the conference provided viable platform to analyse leadership challenges and highlight some of the bank’s contributions towards promoting leadership. It also provided the best minds that would lead Nigeria and beyond through fruitful and interesting discussions.
He explained the government and the private sector would jointly set a platform for sustainable leadership, living by example and providing opportunities to identify productive opportunities
Global perspective
The 43rd President of the United States of America, George Walker Bush advised the Federal Government to do more in fighting corruption by ensuring no one is above the law.
Bush, who spoke on the theme: ‘Embracing Sustainable Leadership’, advised that Nigerians should be patient with democracy, but it is important for the government hold people to account by bursting corruption. He said the powerful should not escape the wrath of the law.
He said Nigerian needs to have clear rules that are enforceable without prejudice and must hold government to account to honour agreements. “You must apply the law no matter how powerful somebody may be as this encourages entrepreneurship and economic development,” he said.
He said he was impressed by the Nigeria’s potential adding that the best way to fight poverty is create entrepreneurs. He also said that it is in the United States of America interest to encourage economic growth in vital countries like Nigeria.
According to him, it is also in the United States interest to create strong economies in Africa while calling for improved trade relations among African countries. “As President of a powerful and rich nation, I think it is important to set goals and also achieve them. It is important for us to encourage and stay engaged with other world economies,” he said.
Continuing, he said: ”The most important job of the American President is to protect the homeland. So, when three planes attacked America in 2001, it turned a decisive moment during my tenure as the President. For me, the first plane was a mistake; the second one was an attack while the third plane was a declaration of war on America. So, I became a wartime president. One thing you have to understand is that when an American President says something, he makes sure it happens,” he said.
Women empowerment
Speaking on the global financial crisis, Former President of France Nicholas Sarcozy said he was able to build trust in the economy after he ruled out bailout for ailing banks. “The basics of banking, which is about helping businesses to grow, has been lost on a lot of banks who are now driven by financial deals,” he said. According to him, a country’s diversity is measured by contributions towards the empowerment of women.
“The appointment of Christine Largarde; the first woman to attain that height of position in France as Minister of Finance was to get women involved outside of their traditional role of managing the home. This enhanced her appointment as the IMF President,” he said.
Zarchozy said he has tremendous respect for women. His wife supported him all through the five years of his career and he feels the need to extend an equal support to her career as a singer. “While there is so much talk about the role of women, doing it is important,” he said.
He said if America is coming to Africa, it is because the continent has a future it should be grateful for. This, he said, is because a business man is not sentimental. Friendship and confidence must be earned.
“The crucial issue for Africa is how to organise itself and speak with one voice. If the voice of Africa; consisting of 54 countries, must be heard around the world, it would have to occupy its political seat. If Europe had not set up the EU, it would have been swept off the map of the world,” he said.
Business models
Former President of Costa Rica, Jose Maria Figuere said economic fundamentals and new business models are drivers of the maritime business when looking at the environment in a profitable, producing fashion.
Figuere said countries should embrace a philosophy of sustainability that makes one more competitive and more resilient in withstanding shocks from the global economy. “Countries should have a vision and share it forward. Everyone should embrace development and not leave it to the government alone as this is a long term strategy,” he said.
