By Aniekan Ezekiel
From
the publisher of BusinessDay, Frank
Aigbogun’s welcome address at the recently held BusinessDay’s Banks and other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards came
the following words: ‘The year 2020 has been a most interesting year. The
economy and communities have been managed by disruptions imposed by COVID-19.
Yet financial services have shown uncommon responsiveness and compassion
towards customers and communities.’ Indeed, this has been an unusual year, no
thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, but it has been a year defined as much by
COVID-19 and its associated disruptions and difficulties as by the unprecedented
response in kindness by corporate Nigeria.
BusinessDay’s BAFI Awards recognised
achievements in a number of separate categories, each of which was worth its
weight in gold. However, it could be argued that in this year of COVID-19, any
recognition that took into account and was informed by the awardee’s COVID-related
activities was probably the most significant of the awards/categories. It is
against this backdrop that the recipient of the CSR Bank of the Year award at
the BAFI Awards should be celebrated and projected as a model other corporate
should emulate. And it came as no surprise that the bank that considers its
destiny to be intertwined with Nigeria’s and whose commitment to nation
building largely informs its approach to corporate responsibility and
sustainability (CR&S), was so crowned as CSR Bank of the Year at the BAFI
Awards.
The
award was a well-deserved recognition for the exemplary role played by First
Bank of Nigeria Ltd, Nigeria’s leading financial services provider, in support
of the government and individuals’ as well as its own efforts to deal with the
impact of COVID-19. Before the BAFI Awards, and, undoubtedly, proof that the
award was not a fluke, CSR Reporters had named FirstBank as the 2020
Philanthropic Financial Institution of the Year in recognition of the bank’s
social responsibility in the areas of e-learning and empowerment of SMEs in
Nigeria. These CSR awards took cognisance of FirstBank’s unparalleled contributions
to CSR, particularly through its e-learning initiative delivered in
collaboration with partners from within and outside the continent, such as IBM,
UNESCO and Robert & John, and the Lagos State Government.
Whilst
different organisations rose to the various challenges resulting from COVID-19
crisis and were supporting in areas such as health and welfare, FirstBank chose
and developed the e-learning initiative. FirstBank felt strongly that the
peculiar needs of children and the youth risked being neglected at a time of
unprecedented crises – with schools being closed, parents losing jobs, businesses
shutting down, government revenues shrinking, health care resources being over-stretched,
economic conditions worsening, etc. The bank therefore kicked off an initiative
to move one million students to e-learning, alongside its partners, to minimise
the disruption to the their education resulting from the prolonged closure of
schools across Nigeria and ensure that they remain fully engaged during the difficult
period, so they can continue to learn and compete favourably with their peers
across the world. Over 140,000 students have benefitted from the e-learning
initiative.
Focusing
on key elements that resonated with its brand, such as dynamism, innovation and
nation building, FirstBank’s e-learning initiative is an innovative and dynamic
approach to learning which is not only a suitable and resourceful solution at
this time, but also one that is intertwined with perhaps the next century’s
likely digital approach to learning, especially with the addition of courses
such as coding and robotics, which can usher students into the era of the
Fourth Industrial Revolution and prepare them for jobs of the future. The
e-learning initiative also aligns with the bank’s key focus area in its CSR
framework – education. Education remains the single largest beneficiary of
FirstBank’s enormous investments in CSR. Currently, 10 universities and three
secondary schools enjoy FirstBank’s infrastructure projects; 10 universities are
endowed with professorial chairs by the bank; and over 80,000 students in over
80 secondary schools in Nigeria have benefitted from financial literacy, and entrepreneurial
and career counselling provided through FirstBank-sponsored programmes. Education
consistently attracts the bank’s keenest attention from year to year. This is
because FirstBank believes that education – quality and relevant education –
remains the bedrock of any society and that when children are properly educated,
the nation is enabled and global citizens who provide groundbreaking solutions
for the continent and the world at large, are produced.
FirstBank’s
partnership with IBM on the e-learning initiative, is making available to
students the Digital-Nation Africa program, an online youth-focused learning
programme that enables innovation and skills development on emerging
technologies TheIBM Digital- Nation
Africa aims to provide African youth with effective digital literacy. The
Platform seeks to enable African citizens, entrepreneurs and communities with
the knowledge, tools and skills to innovate, design, develop and launch their
own digital skills. It also helps African citizens enhance their digital skills
to best meet the needs of the job market.
DNA
provides a broad range of courses for various levels of digital literacy, from
providing an introduction to the key emerging technologies beneficial for all,
through an integrated innovator section to a focused skills enablement section
where users can understand the skills and demands of the market and gain proven
skills to enhance their job prospects. In addition, it provides free access to
practical exercises and to allow for new ideas to be brought to life through
focus areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Coding, Cloud, Internet of Things,
Blockchain, Data Science and Analytics, and Cyber Security. There are currently
nearly 14,000 registrants on the program, which is promoting opportunities to
learn skills of the future.
The
partnership with Curious Learning is designed to reach smartphone users using
available curated and tested literacy and numeracy apps – with free access provided
to these apps. Curious learning is delivering academic-based content for
students aged three to eight through a number of mobile applications designed
to empower these young children in a fun, self-guided learning process through
exploration and curiosity to help them with their cognitive skills at a
fundamental level. Examples of these apps are Feed the Monster and Read with
Akili. Efforts are in place through Curious Learning to ensure the e-learning
initiative swiftly moves across the country to school children and individuals
with the need to promote the pursuit of knowledge, irrespective of age. This is
critical in identifying with the roles of children at securing the future of
any country.
Another
partnership in FirstBank’s e-learning initiative is the one with Lagos State
Government and Robert & John, an Edu-tech company that owns Roducate. The
Roducate e-learning platform, structured in line with the government’s
accredited curriculum for primary, secondary and tertiary schools across
various fields of academic endeavours, such as science, commercial and arts, includes
tutorial videos to reinforce the learning engagement, as well as assignments
and mock exams to test students’ knowledge and progress in the course of
studying. Learning on the platform also enables note taking for quick reference,
and to foster extra-curricular activities, provides exciting features to make
learning exciting and fun, such as podcasts and various games like brain pulse,
monster munch etc. which allows students to play with one another online,
thereby building relationships and promoting interactive learning.
So
far FirstBank has provided 20,000 low-end devices preloaded with Roducate
offline (presented to Lagos State Government for distribution to students) and enabled
over 120,000 free sign-ups, on the Roducate e-learning platform, with the ultimate
goal being to empower at least one million students. ‘This [e-learning] solution,’
according to Dr Adesola Adeduntan, Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank, ‘will
see Lagos State offer children in the lower bracket, who may not have access to
devices or data from home, affordable smart phones preloaded with the
curriculum. The phones have SIMs and limited data tied, only, to the Roducate
learning product, which means the recipients cannot browse, encouraging safe
learning, but they can still submit tests, mock exams, etc.’ Dr Adeduntan, who
encouraged parents and guardians to have their children and wards registered so
their educational development is not held back, noted that the initiative is
‘in keeping with who we are at FirstBank, [where] our commitment to
self-development and continuous improvement is never far from our thinking.’ In
addition, FirstBank is a member of the Global Education Coalition led by UNESCO
which is a platform for collaboration and exchange to protect the right of
education during this unprecedented disruption and beyond.
Furthermore,
in a bid to support SMEs operating in the education sector, FirstBank created a
matching fund scheme of ₦5
billion LSETF-FirstEdu Loan, in partnership with the Lagos State Employment
Trust Fund (LSETF). The scheme is designed to cushion the impact of Covid-19
pandemic on low-cost private schools by providing loans to them at an
attractive interest rate. At the launch of the scheme, the Managing Director/CEO
of FirstBank, Dr Adesola Adeduntan said: ‘At FirstBank we recognise the
indelible role played by the education sector in the growth of any economy and
this underscores our partnership with Lagos State Government for continuous
development of the education services in Lagos State and the nation as a whole.
The commitment by the Lagos State Government – including this partnership – to
enable schools is quite commendable as this will mitigate the challenges caused
by the lockdown on the education sector following the COVID-19 pandemic.’
Woven
into the fabric of society for over 126 years, overcoming challenges and
remaining a dominant player in Nigeria’s financial services landscape, FirstBank
has been partnering and supporting various sustainable activities towards the
continued growth of its host communities and the nation at large. As a
responsible corporate organisation committed to supporting all its stakeholders
in the most sustainable manner possible, the bank has partnered various state
governments through the private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID)
intervention with a view to promoting the readiness and efficiency of health
care professionals and other compatriots at the forefront of fighting the
pandemic. Beyond Nigeria, FirstBank’s
sub-Saharan African subsidiaries have also been involved. So far they have made
donations amounting to US$173,000 in cash and kind towards alleviating the
impact of COVID-19 on the continent.
According
to BusinessDay, the BAFI Awards, convened
annually to recognise and celebrate organisations that have achieved excellence
in the delivery of their financial services across the entire client and
customer spectrum, is adjudged the most rigorous, prestigious and transparent
awards programme in the industry. Since its inception in 2014, when the first
edition held, its organisers, BusinessDay
has implemented an audit-based approach in the evaluation process, meticulously
reviewing each shortlisted company’s financial reports, commissioned customer
perception surveys and analyst opinion, then comparing these with its competition
in a longitudinal study. The BAFI Awards have become established as the
benchmark of distinction for institutions in the financial services sector. Its
rising popularity among leaders in the banking, investing, insurance, and asset
management subsectors have earned the BAFI Awards a reputation as ‘the only
recognition you deserve’.
The
BAFI Awards is backed by the BusinessDay
Research and Intelligence Unit (BRIU). Nominations for the BAFI Awards are the
culmination of a rigorous review process. The BRIU and an independent panel of
judges evaluate more than two hundred and fifty institutions and benchmark them
against their global peers using several indices in a thorough evaluation
process. Nominees are assessed for their vision, execution and market leading
propositions. The BAFI award categories cut across banking, insurance, capital
markets, investment, pension funds, trustees, registrars, stockbroking and
private equity. This year’s event where FirstBank won Best CSR Bank of the Year
(and a second award – Best Mobile Banking App), was themed: Interpreting an
Irrational Year: Coping, Adjusting and Thriving in a Wicked Learning
Environment.
