Nigeria's Sustainable Banking Principles

LAPO Microfinance Bank aligns with the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and has integrated into the Microfinance Business activities and operations the provisions of the nine (9) principles of Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBP). The table below highlights some of our key achievements in the implementation of CBN’s NSBP in the year 2022.

NSBP PRINCIPLES DEFINITION LAPO's IMPACT UPDATE
Principle 1 Our Business Activities:Environmental & Social Risk Management. Integration of Environmental and Social considerations into our lending activities.

We integrate our Environment and Social Management System (ESMS) into our new Core Banking System (CBS).

Before the new CBS, we used the e-leader platform to conduct our E & S Due Diligence Assessment, mitigation, conformity and reporting.

Principle 2

Our Business Operations: Environmental & Social Footprint.

Avoidance of the negative impact of our Business Operations.

We saved over ₦7.3M by not using or printing 124,770 sheets of paper. Our paper consumption decreased due to the digitization of some of our processes. A total of ₦7.3M was saved due to the implementation of our paperless policy.

Following the introduction of energy-saving policies such as switching off all electrical appliances, not in use, using energy-saving bulbs and inverters in our offices, and using solar panels in some of our operating branches among others, our energy consumption dropped.

Principle 3 Human Rights: Respect for the rights of all in Business Operations.

All transactions were screened using the ESMS screening process to discourage child and forced labour.

Principle 4 Women's Economic Empowerment: Promote economic empowerment through a gender-inclusive workplace culture and provide products and services for men.

We have empowered thousands of women through SUFEN (Supporting Female Entrepreneurs), a loan product specifically designed for women empowerment.

61% of our employees are females as against 39% male employees.

Our board gender composition is four women and three men.

We have 36% women in the Management Team.

Principle 5 Financial Inclusion: Promotion of financial inclusion and provision of financial services to individuals and communities with limited or no access to the formal financial sector.

LAPO has Agents in rural locations in Thirty-Four (34) states to reach the unbankable populace.

Our products and services are accessed by all interested persons, including economically-active and physically challenged persons.

A total of 2,388 new accounts was opened in 2022.

The total sum of N847, 779,464 was mobilized through Agents business locations.

To improve customer satisfaction, the Bank is developing a new Agent Application to address customer needs.

Principle 6 E&S Governance: Implementation of transparent E & S risks governance practices within the institution and we assess the E & S governance of our clients.

Monthly and quarterly reports to the Board and Management Executive Management and to the ESG board on our E & S performance.

Our Internal Audit team checks the computation of the paperless banking report before it is shared.

We provided updates to our investors (DFC, AfDB, OIKO, DBN, IFC, etc.)

Principle 7 Capacity Building: Development of the capacity to identify, assess and manage E &S risks and opportunities associated with the bank's business activities and operations. LAPO trained over five thousand (5,000) employees on Anti Money Laundering and code of conduct of the bank.

LAPO trained clients before and after accessing loan on business management and record keeping.

ESG Team attended training on ISO 45001 (OHS), ISO 14001 (EMS), ESMS training by DBN, fire safety / management and Sustainability awareness for Management.

Principle 8 Collaborative Partnerships: Collaboration across the sector and leveraging on international partnerships; moving in unison with the financial sector as a whole, and ensuring consistency with international standards.

We have collaborated with Edojobs, women development Centre, NDE on skills Acquisition.

D.light, Sunking, Tech Upload by Ovi pilot, NTA Star by Startimes Television, OVH by Oando Gas, So-light, Stallion Bajaj, LEMI Renewable Solar, SALPHA Energy on clean green energy products.

IFC, DBN, World Bank, AFDB

Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV)

Principle 9 Reporting:Regularly review and report our progress in meeting the principle at the individual institutional and sector level.

The Microfinance Bank provides periodic updates to our investors such as AfDB, OIKO, etc. regarding our E & S performance, mitigation, and evaluation. We produced a Sustainability report which is shared among stakeholders annually.

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