By Babajide Komolafe

THE Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and its Polish counterpart, Bank Guarantee Fund (BGF), have signed a memorandum of understanding   (MoU) aimed at strengthening protection of depositors’ funds in the two countries.

NDIC  was established to protect bank deposits up to the maximum insured deposit of N200, 000 per account.

The MoU was signed at the end of NDIC’s recent working visit to the GFP of poland on capacity building, information and experience sharing in key operational areas; including early warning systems, failure resolution, and establishment of target fund ratio and implementation of a single customer view system.

The NDIC delegates comprised the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim and the Executive Director of Operations, Prince Aghatise  Erediauwa.

On the signing of the MoU MD/CEO, NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, said the MoU was in line with the mission of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) to share knowledge and experience in deposit insurance and areas of compliance with core principles of effective deposit insurance practice.

Both NDIC and BGF are active members of International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) and the President of the Management Board of BGF, Poland, Mr. Jerzy Pruski is the current Chair of the executive council and president of IADI.

Meanwhile Ibrahim has called on financial institutions in the country to imbibe sustainable banking practices in their operations. He made the call in Abuja while declaring open a lecture on “The Implementation of The Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles for Senior Bank Examiners.”

He noted that the importance of a sustainable banking culture required banks to uphold environmental and social standards by not granting credit or supporting business activities that would harm the environment. He also advised that financial institutions should promote gender equality and promote ethics, fairness and anti-corruption activities, adding that the principles expected banks to gear their operations toward enhancing development that would not only be economically profitable but also environmentally and socially responsive.

According to him, the Bankers Committee had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on how to implement the guidelines on sustainable banking practices.