GTBank Plc, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), and United Bank of Africa (UBA) Plc spent over N4.7 billion on their Corporate Social Responsibilities in 2019.
While Zenith Bank Plc spent N2.715 billion, lower than N3.06 billion recorded in 2018; UBA spent N753 million against N1.04 billion in 2018, and GTBank spent N505 million in 2019 against N928.07 million in 2018.
Access Bank investments on its Corporate Social Responsibilities initiatives dropped from N376.75 million in 2018 to N364 million by the end of 2019. FBN’s expenses on CSR also dropped from N831 million in 2018 to N348 million in 2019.
Findings revealed that the Tier 1 financial institutions spent higher than they did in 2018, as the worth of their donations dropped from N6.23 billion to N4.7 billion in 2019.
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Details
GTBank
- Community Development – N376.74 million
It carried out 106 projects in Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania through its Social Responsibility Challenge in 2019. The staff of 98 branches in Nigeria and two of our subsidiaries in Ghana and Tanzania participated in the challenge. Through the “Simple Change Big Impact programme”, it supported NGOs to execute 20 projects in different parts of Nigeria by providing funds totalling ₦20 million.
- Education – N117.31 million
In terms of promoting education, the Bank donated a sum of ₦150 million to 72 different students as scholarship contributions in 2019. It organised a monthly reading event involving 200 students to promote reading culture; trained 2,133 students on savings across 14 schools in 6 states in Nigeria during Financial Literacy Day in March 2019, amongst others.
- Arts – N500,000
The bank initiated Painting the future for tomorrow’s leaders when it engaged children with a 4-week Art635 Summer programme where they explored and harnessed their creativity through painting, sketching and photography. It also promoted creative expressions through writing, harnessed art for economic development, conducted capacity building for female photographers, and preserved historical artifacts and monuments among others.
- Others – N11.97 million
Zenith Bank
The financial institution spent N573 million, (lower than the N3.06 billion in 2018) on various state governments’ security funds. Others are:
- Global Citizen Award (N362 million);
- Various Conference and Seminar (N314 million);
- financial inclusion project (N120 million),
- medical assistance to the underprivileged (N245 million);
- educational support to Nigerian schools (N145 million);
- Information Communication Technology (ICT) centres for educational firms (N45 million);
- MUSON (N204 million);
- Road and Drainage (N66 million);
- CFA Society of Nigeria, Musical Society of Nigeria, Centre for Value in leadership youth empowerment and Louisville girls high school among others. (N20 million)
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Access Bank
The Bank identifies with the aspirations of the communities and the environments in which it operates. It made contributions to charitable and non-charitable organisations amounting to N364.7 million, lower than the N367.02 million it spent in 2018.
- The financial institution spent fortunes on its contribution towards deepening financial inclusion in Nigeria;
- Lagos State Security Trust Fund
- National MSME clinics in Nigeria
- Donations to 2018 Brains Initiative; and
- Sponsorship of Capacity Building Programme for the Association of Senior Staff of Banks Insurance & Financial Institutions (N10 million).
UBA
The bank engaged in various community development initiatives either directly through UBA Foundation, its special purpose vehicle for Corporate Social Responsibility, or in partnership with credible non-governmental organisations and public institutions. They are:
- ST Pius Xth Grammar School, Delta (N84.03 million);
- International Day of the Africa Child/UBA Read Africa (N51.49 million);
- Ambrose Ali University, Edo State (N49.39million);
- Lagos Chamber of Commerce (N3 million);
- Obafemi Awolowo University (N4.13 million);
- Bowen University (N2.70 million);
- National Essay Competition (N3.79 million);
- Lagos State Security Trust Fund (N50 million);
- National Youth Service Corps (N17.03 million); and
- Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (N1 million) among others.
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FBN Holding
FBN’s Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CR&S) involves meeting the needs of its current stakeholders now and in the future. It goes beyond financing economic activity in a responsible way of ensuring an inclusive, positive impact on our communities. It is about creating long-term stakeholder value by adopting the opportunities and managing the associated environmental, social and governance risks. It concentrated on areas like:
- Deepening Wealth Creation for Women across the Nation: Through FirstGem, its passion and drive to increase the number of women who take pride of place in business and wealth creation intensified. FirstGem is a bespoke solution to foster women empowerment across all socio-economic strata.
- Supporting SMEs in Growing the Nation’s GDP: The Bank organised several empowerment programs for SMEs tagged ‘SME Connect Series’. This initiative provides 360 degrees of support to startups and scale-ups, offering practical and realistic solutions to numerous business challenges encountered.
- Youth Empowerment Series: This is a program designed to sensitise children and young adults on issues relating to financial literacy with focus on financial discipline, savings, investment, and career guidance. In 2018, children between the ages of 10 to 24 years were hosted at the 2nd edition of the Youth Empowerment Series which attracted about 1,350 youths across the Lagos metropolis.
- Employee Giving and Volunteering: Its Employee Giving and Volunteering programme was set up to encourage employees to give back to the community and instill the integral corporate culture of giving.
- Renovation of classrooms and donation of Boreholes: The Company renovated two blocks of classrooms at a primary school and also donated boreholes to both the primary school and the neighbouring secondary school located in a village near Abraka, Delta State among others.
In all, Nairametrics found that the total amount spent by the Tier 1 banks dropped from N6.235 billion in 2018 to N4.72 billion at the end of the 2019 financial year-end. This could be a pointer that the financial institutions are trying to cut costs ahead of uncertainties that have laced the Nigerian economies.