By Oluwaseun Sonde
Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has planned to deepen its collaboration with the new FMBN Executive Management Team towards recapitalizing, repositioning the Bank for more effective affordable housing delivery.
The Director General of BPE, Mr. Alex A. Okoh, stated this during a courtesy visit to congratulate the new FMBN Management Team on their appointment in Abuja on Monday.
“On behalf of the National Council on Privatization, I want to formally congratulate the MD and indeed the entire Executive Management of FMBN.
"This is because we recognize the strategic role of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to bridging the critical gaps of housing shortfall in the country. We want to pledge that we would collaborate with you to ensure that you succeed”.
Okoh further appraised the FMBN Management on the BPE’s ongoing engagement with FMBN towards the implementation of the National Council on Privatization (NCP)’s decision to commercialize the Bank for greater service delivery.
He touched on the urgent need to recapitalize the Bank, restructure its operational framework, implement internal reform initiatives and the streamlining of the FMBN 5-Year Strategy Plan to fit the NCP’s broad goal of a reformed, efficient, and more functional and financially robust FMBN.
He also noted that the strategic engagements between BPE and FMBN had recorded decent progress but were stalled and that he sees the appointment of new Management Team as an opportunity to restart the process.
In his remarks, the MD/CEO FMBN, Mr. Hamman Madu thanked the team from the Bureau of Public Enterprises for the courtesy visit. He assured the agency of the readiness and willingness of FMBN to collaborate towards achieving BPE’s mandate and creating a business driven and impactful FMBN.
He further added that the restructuring and recapitalization of FMBN is top on the new FMBN Management’s priorities.
“The recapitalization and repositioning of the FMBN is an area that our Management Team intends to pursue vigorously. Engagements are ongoing with the Central Bank to map out best ways to achieve it.
Resolving FMBN financials is a critical next step that would lay the foundation for further action, and we are working with relevant stakeholders to ensure this is done.” Madu Hamman, MD/CE FMBN
He noted that the 5-Year FMBN Strategy plan will be reviewed for more aggressive implementation starting this year and that the over reliance on the funds accruing to the National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme has distorted the Bank’s business.
“The new Management Team believes that FMBN should play a larger role within the housing and mortgage housing sector and that the inflows from the NHF are not deep enough to sustain the scale of FMBN’s business operations.
"FMBN needs to explore other sources of funding to deepen impact of its operations and we have already commenced discussions with a few investment banking institutions to explore sukuk or other forms of longer-term financing we can raise from the market” he noted.
Madu added that the Management Team has already commenced internal reform. This includes the computerization of the Banking processes that would enable the Bank deliver quicker and faster services and lay the foundation for cleaner operational records.
“We expect that by the end of the third quarter we should have gone live with all the modules of the Core Banking Software. This would enable FMBN to deliver quicker and faster services to NHF contributors, developers, and other loan customers of the Bank.” Madu Hamman said.
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