By Dipo Olowookere
Stakeholders in the banking profession recently gathered at the weeklong Annual Cash & Trade Seminar organised by Citibank.
During the programme, more than 45 professionals from different banks in the country were taken through current global developments and emerging trends in the banking world.
Chief executive of Citi Nigeria, Mr Akinsowon Dawodu, who declared the event open, highlighted Citi’s partnership with other banks in the industry and reinforced Citi’s commitment to improving the standard of banking for all key stakeholders including regulators, banks and customers.
He noted that the annual seminar was a demonstration of Citi’s commitment to using its global resources and expertise to improve the knowledge base of Nigeria’s banking professionals.
The course is designed to provide both intermediate analysis of international cash & trade policies and processes and also provides an excellent opportunity for interactive discussions between key operators in the local market.
Explaining further, Citi Financial Institution’s Head in Nigeria, Mr David Oji, stated that, “Citi’s objective is to share with participants important developments in international trade and payments and to provide a better appreciation of the fundamentals governing these aspects of international banking.
“These seminars are targeted in particular at bankers who are directly responsible for processing cash & trade transactions and/or marketing related products.”
The primary facilitator was Mr Parvez Todiwala a renowned Senior Trade Advisor from Citi EMEA Trade Advisory and Trainer with experience in International trade and payments.
Other facilitators were Mrs Iheyinwa Onwuasoanya, Citi Correspondent Banking Group Head in Nigeria; and Ms Shola Phillips, Country Chief Compliance Officer.
There were two notable guest speakers namely Mr Munish Modi, the Group CFO Africa Industries Group; and Mr Olu Vincent, Deputy Director of Trade & Exchange, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Mr Vincent commended Citi for the positive contribution to the improvement of the Nigerian Banking industry, and encouraged other banks to emulate this positive example.
