First Bank Big Moves Dr. Adesola Kazeem Adeduntan on the Watch of Disrupting the Banking industry to usher in innovation and the FORBES Award
It is easy to sit back and get complacent once you are successful. But not Dr. Adesola Kazeem Adeduntan Managing Director/CEO First Bank of Nigeria Plc. Under his watch, First Bank continues its aggressive push into different sectors of the economy, while also drawing more and more customers currently unbanked or under-banked into the banking sector as it continues growing its volume through its financial inclusion strategy. And with over 45,000 First Bank agents across Nigeria, First Bank on average processes more than eight billion transactions on a daily basis, yet the elephant is hungry for more.
Over the years, First Bank has been at the forefront of supporting agriculture, industrialization, businesses, and SMEs in Nigeria and has been one of their key dependable lenders. Its resilience and commitment as a financial partner have earned it an award-winning track record where it has been recognized by the pubic and many institutions across the globe for being the Best Commercial Bank and for Best Trade Finance Offerings in Nigeria. These are what have drawn numerous awards to First Bank from many reputable institutions, with the newest one being the Forbes Best of Africa Award was presented to Dr. Adeduntan this September. The award is bestowed on him by Forbes Africa in conjunction with Foreign Investment Network (FIN), for his contributions to the financial services sector in the country and the African continent.
“We are not going to relent and for us at First Bank, profitability is very important, but also supporting economic growth and development is equally important for us. It is only when the country is growing and there is the development and we are all collectively create a bigger cake or pack, that is when the whole country can thrive.” Adeduntan said in an interview sometimes ago.
Prestigious events such as the Forbes award are not just mere events in themselves; they are moments of acknowledging individuals who have made indelible imprints in the lives of others and great lessons for posterity. Adeduntan, with his performance in First Bank, in a rather spectacular way, has added values to many businesses, helping them weather challenges, therefore touching lives.
Dr. Adeduntan is a man who believes that the role of a business is to be adaptable and to enlarge the basket through value-added products. This is because the market is constantly evolving and you have to keep up with it. No wonder First Bank does not go to sleep, relying on its size. Rather it embarks on initiatives that make it more efficient. This means more research, more innovation, more digitalization, and automation while working at reducing cost profiles.
This is because this giant is aware that there are huge opportunities for brands to connect with the consumers if they are willing to get out of their comfort zones and be disruptive in thinking and execution. As humans, we are unified by universally shared hopes and dreams, which are the blueprint for our psychology and, as such, underpin all our behaviors. The same way we share a physical template, we also share a predetermined psychological template that can guide brands on what they want to stand for and how they want to differentiate from the competition. This commitment to stand out of the multitude has been the preoccupation of First Bank for many years. And under Adeduntan the trend has gathered more impetus.
To him having a big market share is neither protected nor permanent. Someone else can take it away. Having been in the corporate world for around 30 years, he has seen it evolve, gained experience, and seen some big and successful businesses that didn’t sustain for a longer time. Business today has become more challenging because of the influx of numerous players, innovative ideas, and ever-changing customer’s wants.
He is aware of some prominent examples of companies that were No.1 in their respective markets. They became comfortable, forgot to remain innovative, and soon faded away. The first example is one that we are all familiar with; Nokia. There was a point in time where everyone held a Nokia phone. However, when touchscreen smartphones started becoming a trend, they did not adapt, and Apple and Samsung took over and Nokia is nowhere to be seen. Another example is Sony with TVs. It had the largest share and was the benchmark.
However, now there are others who sell smart TVs with varying features and have surpassed Sony. Adedutan would not allow this kind of thing to happen in First Bank. So he makes innovation, value for the customers’ financial inclusion strategy, and solid management capacity his watch words.
To stand-out, he makes agency banking a core part of First Bank’s strategy. And in this way, it helping Nigeria to drive the United Nations sustainability agenda. For financial inclusion is very central to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
L.R Ibukunmi Awosika (Chairman Deputy ) Gbanga Francis Shobo ( Managing Director) Dr. Remi Oni (Executive Director Corporate Banking) First Bank Plc
Because it has a link to poverty eradication, women empowerment education, and health. And that is why the government, central bank, and all the banks are all working on promoting financial inclusion, because of its significance. A number of the SDGs are linked to financial inclusion. These include education, ending hunger, and achieving food security, good health, and well-being, gender equality, creating a decent work environment, all indicate that there is a direct correlation. With access to financial services people can invest in businesses; education; live healthy lives; farmers get rich agricultural produce and women are more empowered.
“At First Bank, our approach to driving the SDGs is in two-fold: firstly, aligning our corporate responsibility & sustainability strategy based on our business goals; the Nigeria Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBPs) and global best practice in integrating sustainability within the business operations; and secondly creating awareness amongst staff and other stakeholders through sustainable partnerships. While the Bank work towards promoting all 17 SDGs, we focus more on 7 of the goals because they are material to us. These goals are:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13 & 17”
Positioning financial inclusion as an integral part of its business strategy, First Bank is a leader in agency banking, while taking other measures to enhance financial inclusion. This continues to help the bank gather customers on a daily basis, aided by the brand trust and security of its payment system. Driving this includes a plan called Agency 2.0, which means taking its agency banking business to the next level.
Apart from this financial inclusion strategy, FBN under Adeduntan drastically has reduced the incidence of non-performing loans in the bank. This came down to single digit in 2019.
“When I assumed office in 2016, part of what I said we are going to do was to strengthen our risk management capabilities with the goal of reducing the non-performing loans. I said it would be a two-prong approach and that we would strengthen our capabilities to ensure that we don’t create NPLs.
But remember that no matter how good your risk management capabilities are, because by default the kind of business we do, loans must always go bad from unexpected things.
My plan was to revamp risk management capability and the entire risk management architecture to ensure that we keep new NPLs to the barest level possible. So my team and I focused on the already existing NPLs and then worked on reducing it down to the levels that are in line with the central bank regulation.
What we have achieved is to successfully reposition the risk management system of the bank and today I am particularly very proud of what we have achieved. And it is a combination of these that ensured that we pushed the NPLs to single digits. When we started 2019, our presentation to the investor community was that we are going to end 2019 with single-digit NPL. And by October 2019, we actually achieved single-digit NPL ratio for First Bank.”
Equally, under Adeduntan FBN has made big investments in Cybersecurity. This has allowed banks to remove online threats and protect customers from online fraudsters. It also has developed the strategy of being the leader in the digital banking space, an area in which it has been very successful. Yet, it is forging ahead to be more digital.
Today, on the USSD banking platform, it has over 8.2 million customers actively transacting business, with it being by far the largest in that particular space. It is also dominant. in mobile banking, being very strong in agency banking.
Over 80 percent of its customer-induced transactions are conducted on channels such as First Mobile, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and the automated teller machine (ATM). Consequently, it has been quite successful in -moving customers to electronic channels.
“This is because of the kind of comfort it has been able to give them in terms of security in cyberspace. So, we needed to as a matter of business priority, have made those kinds of investment.” Adeduntan said.
Just as over the years, FBN has been at the forefront of supporting businesses and SMEs in Nigeria, as it looks to the future, it is showing even more commitment to SMEs as well as women entrepreneurs by using innovative strategies to empower these businesses. Even during these testing times, it remains committed to support SMEs by extending facilities to them.
However, the playing field has changed with COVID-19. With many customers now embracing technology, the digital world is essential if an SME is going to weather the new business climate.
And as First Bank caters for them, they need to adapt to the changing reality and digital landscape in order to survive and continue operations effectively. First Bank probably foresaw this new order coming a long while before COVID-19 broke out. This is courtesy of its platforms to bring SMEs together.
It is the first Nigerian bank to launch this type of forward-thinking platform in the country. The aim was to alleviate some of the challenges that currently exist by creating a community where SMEs can share their knowledge and expertise, connect with one another, and engage in industry-related conversations, as well as receive the latest market insights and learning about e-commerce and marketplace management, among many other banking and business services.
SMEs are essential to the Nigeria’s GDP and contribute as much to that. And the very fact that the First Bank is committed to the SMEs is indicative of their indispensable value to the country’s economic engine. As such, FBN aspires to continue playing an important role in extending its financial and business support to nurture the growth of this industry.
In terms of gender equality, and products for the women folks First Bank is the leader here. In 2017, it launched its female product line called First Gem. It followed this up in 2019 with its First Bank Women Network programme. This was one of -the biggest achievements of the bank last year.
The essence of First Bank Women Network which it formally launched in March 2019 was to promote a more inclusive working environment for female staff in the bank. To ensure that the ladies working with Fist Bank are supported to be whoever they want to be.
So, if there is any bank that is in the forefront of promoting gender equality, it is actually FBN bank. A look through its board, and subsidiaries, shows that the females are adequately represented.
How come the Elephant is trumpeting so loudly under the watch of Adeduntan? Observers say this is as a result of his experience.
With his training and experience in Arthur, KPMG, Andersen, Citibank, and AFC through to First Bank, Adeduntan is schooled in the logic that a business that wishes to be successful must be Flexible to any degree.
These anchors on the fact that the role of a business is to be adaptable: be aware of what you are selling, what the competition is doing, and, more importantly, what the market wants. Market needs, resources and ideas are changing at a fast pace. There is always cop for improvement in the value that your product brings. Sticking to one working model and not recognizing market requirements will lead to oblivion.
At First Bank, his main message is to enlarge the basket by providing value-added products. Only selling just raw commodities is not so fruitful, one needs to have value-added as well. There are numerous things to do to make a brand vibrant and exciting, planting itself in people’s minds, as on-sell it.
Why a customer prefers one brand to another is because of the value-added through the toppings and flavor. Similarly, create products that meet those extra needs. This is his reminder to everyone to be mindful of market requirements and be adaptable.
This will ensure a market share that can be sustained. And this philosophy drives First Bank under Adeduntan and now drawing accolades to him and the brand across the waters-Mediterranean and Atlantic. Such is the Forbes best of Africa honour.
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