Naomi Gabriel —
The newly-inaugurated executive management team of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) said that it aims at recapitalizing from the current N5 billion to N500 billion to help provide a robust financial foundation for expanding FMBN’s capacity to enhance access to affordable housing for Nigerians.
Speaking during the unveiling of the new management’s strategy during a Townhall Staff Meeting in Abuja, the Managing Director of the bank, Mr Madu Hamman, said that if the recapitalization was not done it would be difficult for the bank to move forward.
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“We will re-energize the pursuance of our recapitalization agenda. Without this, it will be very difficult for FMBN to move forward. Right now, our N5 billion capital base is that of a State Primary Institution, that cannot hold, he said.
“So, it is going to be on a front-burner for the new Executive Management. The same thing with our two FMBN Enabling Laws. That is the National Housing Fund Act and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) Act some of which provisions have become obsolete.” Hamman added.
The MD sought the co-operation of FMBN staff and urged them to work hard as a team toward meeting set goals.
“In executing most of these endeavours, the most critical factor is our ability to work together as a team. Teamwork is critical to any organisation that wants to succeed. We cannot continue to operate in silos. There has to be synergy between departments, collaborations between people, contributing to ideas, innovations. We are open to suggestions to improve the bank,” he said.
Madu assured the staff of the completion of the bank’s ICT transformation project and the
implementation of the five-year FMBN Strategy Plan as well as the review of FMBN Establishment Acts as part of a broad range of its priorities.
He noted that the management team is fully aware of the systemic challenges facing the bank internally and externally and intends to hit the ground running.
“We have to speedily conclude our IT project to make the bank more digital, eliminate paperwork and enhance service delivery. We will work with the ICT Team to reduce as much as possible the manual operations. On the back of the ICT transformation, we must all work to revamp our work processes, come up with standard operating procedures for all job desks” he said.
The MD also said they would redirect the focus of FMBN loan operations to ensure essential alignment with the bank’s core mandate.
“We will be looking at how our products are performing, identify areas of improvement, and explore ways to address the serious issue of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs). We are going to x-ray all the FMBN housing loan products as well as the underwriting framework guiding their operations.
“Our strategic goal is not only to make the products and processes more efficient but to also ensure maximum protection of the bank’s investment” he said, adding that the ongoing implementation of the FMBN five-year strategy blueprint will also be occupying a central part of the management’s activities.
“Every staff needs to be conversant with the plan and to contribute to its successful implementation. All our activities must revolve around the strategy blueprint. It is an ambition we have set for ourselves, and this management will ensure that we implement it accordingly with periodic reviews to align with emerging realities” the MD said.
He explained that the team would deepen the bank’s strategic engagements with stakeholders particularly FMBN’s regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a statement, the bank will also engage the Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (MBAN), the Real Estate Development Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Labour Centres, the National Assembly, and other stakeholders.
The Executive Director, Business Development & Portfolio Management (BD&PM), Mr Kingsley Chukwuma in his remarks, assured FMBN staff that the Management Team is committed to the digitalization project. He said he would leverage his experience as an ICT consultant for several banks to work towards realizing digitizing FMBN operations. He sought the cooperation and support of staff towards making the bank a more professional institution.
