ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT

Sustainability is imperative for the achievement of the development goals of the Bank of Industry. As such, the Bank has begun to incorporate Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) standards into its business and operational activities. In March 2020, the bank set up its ESG Group, under the Risk Management Directorate (RMD) to oversee the process of integrating ESG risk management into its end-to-end credit and investment appraisal and monitoring. We are convinced that sustainable banking is the future and the guarantee for the long-term success of institutions. The future would be driven by technological innovation, disruptive changes and environmental and social responsibility, therefore, the Bank must position itself for this. 

The Bank has developed a robust Environmental and Social Risk Management process, to assess its operations and financial activity for environmental, social and (where applicable) governance risks, using standards and guidelines designed in line with appropriate national and international standards of ESG performance. 

The overall objective of BOI’s E&S risk management is to identify and mitigate avoidable impacts (e.g. regulatory, reputational, liability and legal issues, credit risk and low return on investment, as well as financial losses) arising from E&S risks facing the Bank and also optimize E&S opportunities.

The objectives of the ESG policy are to:

1. Integrate E&S risk management into the bank’s end-to-end credit and investment appraisal and monitoring process.
2. Ensure compliance with leading international standards while taking cognizance of specific local requirements on E&S risk management in all sectors in which its resources are to be committed.
3. Ensure that its partners (in co-financed deals) share a common commitment to managing E&S risks.
4. Ensure the effective management of E&S risks in the bank’s portfolio by appropriately categorizing transactions based on their potential E&S impact.
5. Ensure that there is the appropriate internal capacity to handle E&S issues, which will be supplemented by external expertise, as the need arises.
6. vi. Provide annual training on E&S risk management to management and staff of the Bank.

Please click here to download  the BOI ESG Risk Management Framework