The Chartered Institute of Credit Management, Ghana (CICM) has pledged to continue exploring ways to raise the standard of credit risk practice in the country as it launches its Ghana Credit Excellence Awards for the third time.
The professional body is mandated to, among others, promote standards of competence, prescribe standards in credit and risk practice, and champion the role and value of credit as a critical tool for business development.
Slated for November 3, 2022, the theme for this year’s award is: ‘Accelerating Digital Transformation in the Banking and Financial Services Industry: From Crisis to Growth’.
It is aimed at improving the quality and efficiency in the financial services sector, and will focus on showcasing and applauding the best-performing banks, specialised deposit-taking institutions, venture capital businesses, and debt collection agencies in various categories.
Speaking at the launch, Executive Secretary, Amo Agyapong, said the CICM is committed to investing time and other resources into ensuring innovations and continuous improvements in its awards scheme.
To ensure effectiveness and efficiency, he said his outfit will work through the Awards Steering /Planning Committee, technical and research associates to gather relevant information to inform the final decisions of the governing board.
Head of Strategic Relationship and Chairman of Awards Steering /Planning Committee, Yaw Gyamfi, noted that the awards will go through a very rigorous process that begins with corporate entities filling out corporate diaries for their activities within their award areas for the year under consideration, followed by advertisements and letters to organisations and individuals to nominate based on categories, and finally, nominated candidates filling out a very detailed questionnaire that is reviewed and assessed by a focused group.
The results of the assessments, he said, will be compiled by the technical and research associates for final presentation to the governing council of CICM, which makes the final decision on the winners.
He maintained that this year’s awards is led by the institute’s desire to project credit management as a tool that is relevant for the development of the nation.
This year’s awards will assess the performance of 57 institutions and 15 individuals in all. These will be made up of 12 banks, 18 specialised deposit-taking institutions (SDIs), 3 credit reference bureaux, 3 debt collection companies, 3 financial technology companies (fintech), 3 venture capital companies, and 15 Chief Executive Officers or Managing Director of banks and specialised deposit-taking institutions.
