Keynote Address by Dr. Herbert Wigwe on “Leading Financial

Keynote H Wigwe GSFC 2017

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY DR. HERBERT WIGWE ON “LEADING FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS WITH INNOVATION FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE” AT THE GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE FINANCE CONFERENCE (GSFC) ON JULY 13, 2017

Tom Friedman, Pulitzer Prize Winner said,

“Ten years ago, Facebook barely existed, LinkedIn was a prison, Skype was a typographical error, Twitter was a sound, the Cloud was still in the sky, Big Data was a rap star, 4G was a parking space, and an application was what you sent to University.”

Some ten years later these terms have all taken on a very different meaning. A meaning synonymous with the rise of many successful businesses offering technology never before dreamed of.

Yet today, while we can smile at these terms and how fast their meaning has changed we must also acknowledge, that in parallel to such technological advances, we have failed our planet.

If our planet were a flower it would be drooping. Fast.

The change our world has witnessed, even celebrated, has come at massive cost. We are no longer only focused on economic development, the resolution of social problems and a better life for all.

We now fight for the future health of our planet. What advances will these celebrated technologies represent if our planet fails?

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Dr. Frank Mentrup – Mayor of Karlsruhe, Charge d'Affaires, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Germany, Minister of Finance and Economy, Uganda, Heads of foreign missions, CEO of the European Organisation for Sustainable Development Delegates from the world's financial market Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my honour and sincere pleasure to be given this opportunity to speak to you all today.

Thank you to the European Organization for Sustainable Development for bringing together key stakeholders of the international community to address and discuss our world’s most pressing challenge……Sustainable Global Development.

This conference could not be more timely as the financial industry grapples with the need to evolve into an innovative and progressive phase of existence.

An existence, which must find answers to the challenges and risks facing the industry in order to serve a world under threat. Where we can serve a wide range of stakeholders, not the least of which is our planet.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris agreement has created a clear path for all business to act responsibly in driving the sustainable agenda globally.

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As key stakeholders, we come together at this conference to galvanize our efforts and resources towards developing strategies that will help achieve a truly sustainable world. I will argue strongly, this is no longer a choice for us all to make, it is perhaps the most important necessity we will all face together.

Our cities have expanded, pollution is at an all time high, poverty levels are rising, climate changes are upon us, deforestation is destroying many vital systems of life including our own, water shortages are on the rise, the list goes on.

Therefore planning for sustainability is our only way to help ensure societies are economically, environmentally and socially efficient and resilient in the continuing face of climate change, and various threats to our planets survival.

The growth needed to solve many of the world’s problems is known. However, financing this growth is a challenge.

As leaders and members of financial institutions, we play a critical role. We have the ability, as financiers of the economy, to ensure that sustainable practices are adhered to on a multi-sectorial level.

Our duty is to create financial products and services that birth responsible economic, social and environmental benefits by fuelling initiatives such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, cleaner production processes and technologies, biodiversity conservation, SME finance and financial services targeted to women.

According to the United Nations Development Program, the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs require trillions of dollars of investments to bridge the infrastructure gap between what is needed and what is being built in developing countries.

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According to the UNEP-FI, achieving the SDGs, implementing the global action plan to end poverty, and combating climate change and protecting the environment, is expected to cost $5 to $7 trillion every year through 2030. Existing funding from municipal governments’ revenues, debt, or national government transfers clearly will not fill this gap.

This is where financial institutions must take a stand to join existing efforts to strategically facilitate the successful achievement of the SDGs through financing activities.

On a global level, in 2015, multilateral development banks including the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank Group and the IMF informed the world of their 3-year plans to contribute more than $400 billion in financing by working more closely with private and public sector partners in mobilizing resources needed to ensure the achievement of the SDGs. This resulted in the development of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

The Addis Ababa Conference was the first in a series of UN events leading up to the adoption of the new UN sustainable development agenda, for successfully driving sustainable development. This collective action by global financial institutions is one of the key indicators of the trend of innovative sustainable financing amongst financial institutions today.

At Access Bank, our vision is to be the world’s most respected African Bank. We fully understand that to achieve this, our business must embrace economically, environmentally and socially responsible approaches and practices.

Sustainability has been part of our DNA since 2008. It is not something we visit once in a while, it’s embedded in our policies, procedures and practices that dictate how we

www.accessbankplc.com Keynote H Wigwe GSFC 2017 operate daily. It involves strategic planning and decision-making that adopt business practices, motivate paradigm shifts, and create a culture of responsibility across the Bank, its people and our entire value chain.

We are constantly making sure that our business is not jeopardizing opportunities and resources for future generations. With new sustainability targets being set daily, we continue to improve on the way we conduct business in order to remain progressive, and take a leading role in the drive towards a sustainable financial future for Nigeria.

I said earlier that financial institutions play a critical role. At Access Bank, we take this role very seriously. In countless ways.

We initiated and led the development of the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles which have now been adopted by all Nigerian banks including the Central Bank of Nigeria. These principles were established in 2012 to accelerate the adoption of banking and finance practices, which are not only economically viable, they are socially equitable and environmentally friendly as well.

Access Bank has chaired the NSBP Steering Committee to provide guidance to the Nigerian banking industry as part of the process of driving the adoption and implementation of the principles.

We continue to show our support for new and existing sustainability champions across the Banking industry, by organizing educative seminars that address major challenges of the discipline, further driving sustainability across financial institutions in Nigeria.

But our reach is not only local. As a global financial services provider with a diverse range of products tailored to individuals, businesses, institutions and governments, Access Bank is committed to making a positive contribution to global economic growth and the sustainability of our planet.

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Our strategy, together with a solid corporate governance structure, has enabled us to retain a strong leadership position among the sustainable banks in Nigeria and the broader African continent.

Let me share some of our achievements.

We are driving Financial Inclusion by ensuring a financially literate community through the development of products and services aimed at reducing extreme financial illiteracy. To do this, our Inclusive Banking Group works effortlessly to identify financial inclusion and literacy gaps, and strategizing on how best to close these gaps.

Our products and initiatives span several under banked segments such as Children and Youth, Senior Citizens, and Women. Through many innovative initiatives and products we have been able to develop money management skills amongst financially excluded segments, thereby reducing poverty, increasing economic opportunities and boosting national savings.

America has Hollywood, India has Bollywood. Now, Nigeria has Nollywood.

In 2016, Access Bank launched a N1 billion ‘AccessNolly’ fund. From a social standpoint, Nollywood is driven by our youth. Its value chain including acting, production and distribution is dominated by youth. Supporting such an industry makes a lot of sense, given that Nigeria’s youth unemployment at 34% is higher than our national unemployment at 25%. The AccessNolly Fund is proving innovative in ensuring that more and more Nigerian youth are employed in a sector that remains very elastic in absorbing more labour.

In 2017, the Central Bank of Nigeria called for increased financial inclusion across the country by way of promoting a savings culture. In response, Access Bank recently

www.accessbankplc.com Keynote H Wigwe GSFC 2017 introduced a new saving scheme tagged ‘Family Savings Scheme’ designed to encourage families to save together and enjoy exclusive privileges such as high interest rates and family rewards.

Our commitment to sustainability reaches far beyond our local Nigerian, or even our continental shores. We are dedicated to sustainable development by forming strong alliances and partnerships with many leading organisations in the field of sustainability. These include multilateral organisations such as the International Finance Corporation, the Netherlands Development Finance Company, the European Investment Bank, and many more.

We are a bank who has invested in the required systems that enable us to comply with all environmental and social regulations relating to our operations. We understand that the projects and deals we finance impact local communities.

As such, in 2009, we adopted the Equator Principles for Project Finance. We are the first financial institution in Nigeria to deploy a customized Sustainable Finance toolkit that helps us screen projects and identify potential environmental consequences.

We have also made efforts to expand our Environmental and Social Risk Management system. As such, we continue to set standards for the banking industry in Nigeria by applying our environmental focus on every lending process of the Bank.

We invest in renewable technologies.

Over 240 of the Bank’s ATMs and one of our business offices located in Lagos, are fully powered by solar energy to minimize our pollution of the environment.

In July 2016, Access Bank pioneered the waste recycling project for the proper disposal and management of our paper, plastics, and glass and cans waste at our

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Head Office and Annexes. We have achieved a 90% reduction in the amount of waste produced that goes to landfill in the locations where this initiative has been implemented. This has now been adopted across the Nigerian Banking industry as other institutions have followed our example and launched their recycling initiatives.

Also, in 2016, the Bank partnered with the Lagos State Government to successfully host the first Access Bank Lagos City Marathon. This partnership was aimed at providing strategic support in the area of sports whilst promoting healthy and active living through fitness and exercise.

It was the first ever, full Marathon in Nigeria since 1985. The event, which was approved by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria endorsed by the International Association of Athletics and tagged “Running from the old to the New”, drew athletes from across the globe. We were so proud to display the emergence of a modern city and multifaceted developments our state has undergone since the last marathon over 30 years ago.

The 2016 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon was ranked 2nd in Africa after the Cape Town Marathon by the All-Athletics.com. The marathon also emerged 71 amongst over 1000 international marathons globally. You can tell how proud I am of this.

The UNICEF Charity Shield Polo Tournament is one of the prominent initiatives, sponsored by Access Bank to drive development in the communities it serves. The UNICEF Charity Shield Polo tournament was designed to raise more awareness on the plight of vulnerable children and orphans especially the Internally Displaced Persons scattered across northern Nigeria.

The tournament started in Kaduna state and finished in Europe with the Access Bank Charity Shield Polo Day at the prestigious Guards Polo Club in London. The range of events which featured celebrities from different parts of the globe, proved to be yet

www.accessbankplc.com Keynote H Wigwe GSFC 2017 another platform for supporting the less privileged in Northern Nigeria. Access Bank, in line with this year’s goal, donated N10,000,000 to UNICEF to the cause.

At Access Bank, the empowerment of women is an issue at the heart of our growth and sustainable development strategy. We have continued to be one of the leading sponsors of the internationally acclaimed Women’s Empowerment Principles promoted by the United Nations Women and the United Nations Global Compact.

As a bank of best practice, we continue to subscribe to the Women’s Empowerment Principles, and have gradually begun to eliminate traditional banking, finance and societal stereotypes by which women were excluded from certain roles, opportunities and privileges.

We promote initiatives that empower women through our supply chain activities and marketing practices. Besides the Access Women’s Network, in July 2014, we unveiled the “W” initiative to accelerate a new wave of female entrepreneurs in Nigeria. In addition to financial inclusion, the “W” initiative is a one-stop centre for all of our offerings.

As a leader in sustainability in the financial industry, Access Bank knows the benefits of giving back to the communities in which we operate. Therefore, we encourage our employees to do the same.

Over 7,000 strong employees have contributed ideas, skills and resources to address social issues in this Employee Volunteering Scheme, whilst gaining hands-on experience and fulfillment as positive role models in our society.

The results of this scheme have been wonderful. Over 25,000 students in schools, 2,000 vulnerable children, 5,000 patients in hospitals, more than 2,000 visually impaired persons, 3,500 persons in retirement homes, prisons and orphanages.

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All these people’s lives have been positively impacted.

Over 300 initiatives have been implemented across over 300 communities, in 36 states, with our employee volunteers devoting over 200,000 hours. We have donated over 500 school uniforms, over 200 computer systems and accessories, over 40 classrooms and 20 hostel rooms. As a result of this work, I am very proud to say that Access Bank employees have improved the lives of over 100,000 people.

I am often asked whether I am optimistic about the future.

How could I not be when I see, every day, the passionate, dedicated people that I am fortunate to have working at Access Bank? The smile on their faces when another mosquito net is erected, or another child is given an opportunity the mother never dreamed of, or the dreams of an entrepreneurial woman come to fruition, or another branch is opened giving an entire community new access to financial services?

How could I not be optimistic!

But we all know this is not a conference about Nigeria, it is a conference about planning the provision of innovative banking solutions that will create a global sustainable future.

And for that, I would have to be turning a blind eye to ignore the science. But I think the world has had a lifeline extended to it. The world’s people are waking up to the challenges ahead. Resilience is woven deeply into the fabric of humanity. Throw us an obstacle, and we grow stronger.

We have a chance to deliver a healthier planet, stronger economies and a more stable world to our children.

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To conclude, the future is here and sustainability is taking center stage. Not out of choice, but out of necessity.

Speaking on behalf of Access Bank, I promise we will continue to be the Bank financing the advancement of social development, the protection of the environment and the development of an economy that is inclusive and progressive which creates a tomorrow that is indeed sustainable.

I have no doubt that the outcome of this conference will drive the level of engagement and idea generation that will solidify and strengthen the sustainable agenda of the global economy.

More importantly, I believe that the outcomes of our interactions will promote our business strategies to provide valuable solutions to the pressing challenges of the industry, modelling an innovative future for banking and finance.

The world is united in the fight for the preservation of our planet.

To borrow from the words of Paul Hawken,

“You are all brilliant, and the Earth is hiring.”

Thank You.

Dr. Herbert Wigwe Group Managing Director/CEO Access Bank Plc