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Lagos, Nigeria. September 14, 2015 –
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Nigeria’s leading financial training organization, FITC, today announced the signing of a three-year cooperation agreement to advance corporate governance training and practices among West African businesses. The aim is to make businesses more attractive to investors, improve employment opportunities, and contribute to economic growth within the region. The initial focus countries are Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
IFC and FITC’s partnership will build and develop local institutional capacity to promote good corporate governance practices; assist companies to implement practices that will improve their performance; assist in developing the framework that supports good practices; and raise appropriate public awareness of best practices, through cooperation with local institutions.
Dr. Lucy Surhyel Newman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FITC said “FITC has over the years provided corporate governance training and capacity building initiatives among businesses that have helped to improve their attractiveness and performance. This agreement with IFC, our long term partner, will help us further grow our reach in delivering corporate governance training, capacity building and implementation support services to businesses across West Africa and thus, help develop the region.”
IFC first partnered with FITC from 2011-13. During this period, the cooperation enabled FITC enhance its capacity as a Corporate Governance Centre that trained bank directors and C-suite bank executives in Nigeria using a globally standardized and localized corporate governance curriculum developed by IFC and FITC. The curriculum helped build self-sustaining training capacity for bank directors on key corporate governance issues. Over that period, 178 directors benefited directly from the initial program.
Eme Essien Lore, IFC Country Manager for Nigeria said, “IFC is determined to boost the adoption of good corporate governance practices among businesses because they help companies operate more efficiently, improve access to capital, and contribute to development. Building on our partnership with FITC, we hope to expand the opportunity to improve corporate governance practices among businesses across West Africa and help boost business results and investment attractiveness for African companies.”
IFC's Africa Corporate Governance Program offers advice to improve corporate governance practices across Africa. The AfCGP is funded by SECO, Switzerland, and IFC is the implementing partner for the program.
About FITC
FITC was incorporated as a special purpose not-for-profit professional services organization under the Company’s Act of 1968 in September 1, 1981 and commenced operations in 1984. It is owned by the Nigerian Banker's Committee, which is comprised of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and all licensed banks and discount houses in Nigeria. FITC has since inception, grown to now deliver training, consulting and research services, with a growing clientele and participants from other jurisdictions in Africa increasingly attending its programs. The organization has recorded almost 57,000 participants at its training program from inception to date, of which about 6,500 have been on Bank and other Financial Institutions Directors’ Continued Education Program.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our capital, expertise, and influence, to create opportunity where it’s needed most. In FY15, our long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $18 billion, helping the private sector play an essential role in the global effort to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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