The National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA) chartered, has emphasized the importance of ethics, transparency, and duty of care in credit management. According to NICA’s Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Chris Onalo, credit managers should prioritize professionalism and integrity in their work.
In a quick encounter with Nigeria’s doyen of credit management profession, Professor Onalo outlined key principles in credit management for credit managers, including:
– Transparency and Ethics: Credit managers should ensure that credit appraisal processes are transparent, ethical, and free from biases. This is in addition to gathering appropriate credit and business information to construct mitigation strategies against credit defaults.
– Comprehensive Credit Assessment: Credit management professionals should conduct thorough assessments of customers’ creditworthiness, considering business growth or downturn trends observed over time.
– Regular Training and Development: Credit managers should participate in regular credit management training and retraining programmes to stay updated on best practices and industry developments.
– Clear Credit Policies and Procedures: Organizations should establish clear, well-defined credit policies and procedures to support comprehensive credit decision-making and efficiency.
– Effective Communication: Credit managers should maintain effective communication, consultation, collaboration, and cooperation with stakeholders, including top management and customers, to ensure timely credit information sharing, insisting that best Practices for credit management is essentially about conducting thorough credit risk assessments to identify potential risks and develop mitigation strategies, regularly monitor credit portfolios to identify areas of concern and take proactive measures, and implementing efficient credit recovery processes to minimize losses and maximize recoveries, among others. Drawing from the statutory mandate of NICA, the Professor of credit management who also is the president of Postgraduate school of credit and financial management, explained that the roles of NICA is to regulate and oversee the credit management profession in Nigeria, promoting industry standards and best practices.
“NICA provides training and certification programmes for credit management professionals, enhancing their skills and knowledge in credit management”, he said.
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