Mr Niyi Yusuf, Managing Partner, Verraki Business Solution for Africa, has urged Bankers to develop and improve their digital skills if they want to remain relevant in their career.
Yusuf gave the advice virtually at the 2021 Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Graduates’ Induction and Prize Awards Day, on Saturday in Lagos.
The event had “Breaking New Grounds: Positioning for Global Competitiveness” as its theme.
Yusuf said that global economy evolved from agriculture now to the connection economy, identifying technology as the main driver of growth and change.
“For us in the banking sector, instead of using branch as the sole means of service delivery, we now use the Internet, Web, ATM and mobile Apps as a way of service delivery.
“Instead of doing pure cash or cheque, we use cards; and of recent, we are beginning to use Bitcoin and so, we realise that technology is driving these changes.
“In this world, it is either you disrupt or you will be disrupted; but you cannot stay in one place, you need to keep moving.
“What that suggests is for us as Bankers to know that old skills will not be sufficient for the world of today and you will need to keep developing new skills.
“You need to keep reinventing yourself so that you also can be relevant in the world of tomorrow,” Yusuf advised.
He named innovations like Interswitch, Flutterwave, Kuda, and others as banking sector disruptors, stressing the need for the sector to step up.
Beyond digitalisation, Yusuf urged Bankers to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and be ready for the next opportunity that digitalisation and AFCFTA combines to produce together.
“The next big opportunity that I see is (AfCFTA), that essentially turns the market into a 1.3 billion market which is the total population of Africa.
“So your market is no longer the 20 million in Lagos or the 500 thousand on your street or the 200 million in Nigeria, but rather your market becomes the entire African Continent.
“Part of the AfCFTA opportunity is the need to feed everyone, to clothe everyone, to house everyone and when you do whole of this, it is about Credit, Payment, Trade and Financing,” he said.
Mr Hassan Bello, Managing Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), reassured the CIBN of his organisations’ support and commended it for its various initiatives in the areas of Banking services, Associateship Examinations and Certification programmes.
Earlier, Dr Bayo Olugbemi, CIBN President, congratulated the Inductees and urged them to position themselves for global competitiveness and relevance.
He urged them to be mindful of the seven deadly sins as propounded by Mahatma Ghandi- Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Science without humanity, Knowledge without character, Politics without principle, Commerce without morality, and Worship without sacrifice.”
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