Energy Woman: "Let's debunk the prototype or paradigm that says, the woman should only be seen, not heard..." -'Toyin Aina

“Let’s debunk the prototype or paradigm that says, the woman should only be seen, not heard;

I went to Mayflower School...hardwork is part of our DNA”. - ‘Toyin Aina

Oluwatoyin Aina is th e G ro up H e a d , E n e r g y c o v e r i n g D o w n s tr e a m a n d International Oil Trading within Corporate Banking Directorate - First Bank of Ni geria L imited . With 18 years professional experience within the Banking/Finance industry, she presently has c o n c urre n t ov ers i gh t for D o wn s tre a m/ O i l Tra d i n g business within the Bank’s C o m m e r c i a l a n d R e t a i l s e g m e n ts a c ro s s Ni ge r i a w h i l e fo s te r i n g b u s i n e s s synergies across the UK and African subsidiaries (Ghana, G u i n e a , G a m b i a , D R C , Senegal and Sierra Leone) under the G lobal Account Management structure.

In this interview with Jerome Onoja, she bares her thoughts on a couple of topical issues that pertains to financing the oi l in d us tr y, an d the place of a woman in the mix. Excerpts.

last NOG conference. What are the highlights of your deliberations?

My session had to do with the Nigerian Content Fund a n d h o w m uc h o f i t wa s avai la b le an d accessi b le. T hankf ully the E x ecu tive Secretary of the Nigerian Content D evelopment and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), E n g r S i m b i Wa b o te w a s around and he put forward the agency’s position on it. Some felt it takes a long time to access the fund. They said, the conditions for accessing it were too stringent; as Bank o f In d u s tr y ( BO I) , whic h happens to be the custodian of the fund , would need a Bank Guarantee (BG) from the commercial banks. Accessing the funds won’ t happen if the contractor didn’t have a credit facility or BG line with any commercial bank. Secondly, the banks don’ t find the margins attractive enough for their investment, hence thi s co uld acco un t for the low uptake of these

transactions.

T h e E x ec u tiv e S ecre ta r y promised to look into the processes, to see how BOI and the Central Bank of Nigeria ( C B N) can colla b ora te to ensure better incentives are put in place to motivate the commercial banks to respond in the affirmative. Yes, some people a ttested to having benefitted from the fund, but a larger number were having issues accessing it.

We a l s o d e l i b e r a t e d o n leveraging the provisions/ incentives of trading within the free trade zones and how it helps the ease of doing business in Nigeria from a tax and duty-free perspective.

D o y o u h a v e a s p e c i a l package either directly or as a syndicate of banks with a pool of fund s b y which y o u s u p p o r t i n d i g e n o u s c o m p a n i es w h o wo rk fo r international oil companies (IOCs)?

Ye s we have approved credit produc t s for the contrac tor s of most of the IOC s to support thei r contrac t s . We pa r tner w i t h t h e l i k e s of S h e l l , Chevron, ExxonMobil, NLNG, To tal E &P, e tc . U s u a l ly, w e w o r k w i t h t h e i r t o p con t ra c to r s on t he va riou s p r oj e c t s t h e y h a n d l e . I t r a n g e s f r o m E n g i n e e r i n g , P ro cu rement , C on s t r uc tion , I n s tallation , C ommi s sioni ng to other services. We offer competitive fina ncing term s to the se contrac tor s becau se they bank with u s and thei r counter pa r tie s (the IOC s), a re A L SO credi ble bu sine s s p a r t n e r s w i t h g o o d r i s k profiles/credit rating.

W hat do we do? We g ra nt I n v o i c e D i s c o u n t i n g , R e c e i v a b l e s D i s c o u n t i n g , Overdraft, contract Financing Facilitie s , and more to the se contrac tor s . Each contrac tor i s apprai sed on hi s/ her ow n merit and must meet our Risk A ssessment Criteria to qualify for the va riou s scheme s . “ T hen we work with the IOC s to confi rm i nvoi c e s , e n s u r i n g t h e y a r e g e n u i n e , a n d no t s t a l e ; we a l s o c o nf i r m t h e l e v el of work done/ achieved per time before we honou r reque st s”.

W here requi red, we employ t h e s e r v i c e s o f s u b j e c t m a t te r e x p e r t s fo r p r oj e c t appraisal. As part of the IOC’s compliance with the NOGICD (Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry C ontent D evelopment) A c t , t h e y n e e d t h e s e Ni g e r i a n companie s to ca r ry out some fraction of their contracts and to deliver on them; but they wouldn’t want to ri sk lo sing money a s a re sult, so they work closely with the banks.

L icenses to a couple of fields were revoked from their indigenous owners in recen t tim es for no t developing the assets. A huge number had issues w i t h f i n a n c i n g. B e i n g one of the biggest banks i n Ni geri a , d o yo u s e e o ur b ank s ri sin g to the occasion any time soon? Are they well capitalised

for such?

Quite a num ber of Nigerian b a n k s , i n clu di n g o u r s elve s fi na nce d suc ce s sf ul bidder s i n t h e l a s t m a r g i n a l f i el d bi d d i n g r o u n d a n d d i r e c t dive stment by some IOC s at various levels. It’s wor thy to note however that, Nigerian E&P companies are becoming better- str uc tu red in term s of technical skill set, cor porate g o v e r n a n c e a n d c r e d i t wor thine s s . So it’s a g radual p ro c e s s . C omme r cial ba nk s would lend on t he back of p ro duci n g volume s b e c au s e cr ude oil i s a globally-traded commodity. Hence, a few banks p a r t i ci p a t e d i n s y n d i c a t e d Reserve-Based Lending (RBL) alongside international bank s for indigenous E&P companies prior to the 2014 global crash.

“T h e f a l l i n o i l p r i c e s i s a g l o b a l phenomenon but it s impact would be felt more where hedge s a re not in place”.

va riety of condition s and it’s not a s simpli stic a s financing contracts or availing working capital for trade/Opex.

H e d g i n g i s a m a j o r requirement for most ReserveBa sed L ending financing a s it provide s a buffer to falling p r i c e s . C om m e r ci a l B a n k s generally a re not po sitioned to take exploration ri sk due to the natu re of ou r foreig n currency capital which i sn’t lo n g te r m . O u r lo n g te r m f i n a n c i n g a r e u s u a l l y i n local currency. For foreig n currencies, bank s borrow the funds at an expensive cost and the tenure is usually short.

Sustainability: how would you rate yourself?

First Bank currently partners with Lagos Business School on various sustainability initiatives as we are in constant touch with the faculty in charge of sustainability; so, we are big on that. It’s important to note that CBN has well-established regulations and corporate process on sustainability with which it governs the banks.

S o , E & P c o m p a n i e s a r e e n c o u r a g e d t o p a r t n e r w i t h D evelo pme n t F i n a n c e In stitution s like World Bank - I F C , A F C , A F R E X I M a n d o t h e r m u l t i l a t e r a l o r g a n i s a t i o n s t h a t h a v e cheap er a nd longer -tenore d funds/ capital to suppor t field development and exploration. T h e p i c t u r e i s d i f f e r e n t for a s set s t hat a re al ready producing and that want s to ramp up production. On such occa sion s , commercial bank s can ea sily come in, and hinge the lending on producing and p roven r e s e r ve s ; no t when s till ex plo ri n g . L en di n g to E&P companie s depend s on a

S o , w e a p p l y t h e Environmental Sustainability Guidance Manual (ESGM) template in checking companies in the extractive industry, as well as others whose activities impact on the environment. We also rely on the Environmental Impact A ssessment (EIA) report from registered consultants, while still considering community engagement and waste management processes before we finance such businesses. These are established measures put in place. It is one of our core values to operate sustainably.

I nter nally, we al so have the “SPARK” initiative; thi s i s a p ro g ra m me w hi c h s p e a k s to Corporate Social Responsibility. Various groups within the bank have come up with innovative projec t s on C SR which impac t l i v e s a n d t h e e n v i r o n m e n t po sitively. T he Ma rketing and C o r p o r a t e C o m m u n i c a t i o n s depa r tment wi t hi n t he ba nk anchors these initiatives.

What is your take on gender parity?

I believe in it.

A s a bank , we al so have the Fi r s t Women Network which wa s inaug u rated in May thi s yea r, a s pa r t of the Women’s Day celebration, to affirm ou r commitment to gender equality and equity. Globally, stati stic s put the ratio of men to women a t 5 0 :5 0 , b u t u nfo r t u na tely t he ra tio of co n t r i b u tio n of e a c h g e n d e r to g lo b a l GDP i s more skewe d i n favou r of men. Hence, we are shortchanging the global economy. So, the Fi r st Women Network i s buil t on 6 pilla r s , which include Financial Empowerment a n d Pl a n n i n g ; M e n t o r s h i p , Ca reer Development, Per sonal B r a n d i n g , N e t w o r k i n g & Welfa re . I happen to be the Team L ead for the Fina ncial Pl a n n i n g a n d E m p owe r m e n t pillar. S o , w e P u b l i s h newsletters regularly; organize vi r tual and phy sical semina r s and workshops where we invite internal and ex ternal re sou rce persons to speak to women.

I am a part of the initiative and I say we a re very pa s sionate a bout gender pa rity/eq uality. I believe we should rai se the woman’s level of education and financial literacy. There should be no gender restriction on any kind of job or role. I say : give women a platform! “ L e t ’ s d e b u n k t h e p r o t o t y p e o r pa radigm that say s , “T he woman should o n ly b e s e e n , no t hea rd”.

That’s why I advise every woman t h a t , w h e n t h e o p p o r t u n i t y pre sent s it self, speak up and speak qualitatively ; leave the best impres sion of yourself and you r offering s so you can stay competitive and relevant.

W h a t ’ s y o u r p e r s o n a l philosophy to life and how did growing up shape it?

I believe you can be whatever you want to be, and nothing , I mean no-one can stop you. “ My mom singlehandedly rai sed me a n d my si s te r. S o I g r ew u p s e ei n g a w o r k i n g a n d productive mother”.

God forbid one lo se s a spou se or ha s a faile d relation ship, how would the woman re spond to it? You very well know that life happen s . W hen it th rows lemons at you, what do you do? Do you conver t it to lemonade o r wallow i n s elf-pi ty? O ne ne e d s to b e p re pa r e d a t all times and take life in strides. I went to Mayf lowe r S chool Ikenne and Tai Solarin wa s the proprietor: It wa s inculcated in u s to th rive in difficulty and strive for excellence. Hardwork was part of our DNA. Wi t h t he volu me of wo rk I have on my plate, even af ter a n M B A , I ’m s t i l l w r i t i n g profe s sional exam s , 19 yea r s af ter g raduation. I believe in re - skilling a nd up - skilling to keep up with changing trend s and to stay relevant. With hard work , determination and mo st impor tantly the favou r of god, nothing is impossible!!

Yo u o bvio usly work lon g hours at this level of your career. How do you manage work-life balance?

A s bankers, we aren’t the very best at it. But again, it’s about perspective. I b el i eve wo rk doe sn’t stop, neither doe s life ac tually stop.

“

I weave work into life and life into work . You c a n h a v e f u n w h i l e wo rk i n g a n d yo u c a n

work while having fun”.

I believe in having a mix at all time s . But I al so have an open mind. T he dichotomy between both isn’t very clear. However, I create time for family a nd take my vacations.

What’s the major challenge in your industry?

Regulating the banking industry i s n ’ t t h e s a m e w i t h w h a t happen s over sea s . Ye s , there’s competition everywhere but the sy stem differ s . We need some s ta nda rdi sation a s it obtai n s abroad. We should have “ethical competition” and not the sor t of price wa r s we face here. It can be better.

What’s the Nigeria of your dreams?

First, I am very patriotic. But the level of i n se cu rity to day wo r r i e s m e . T h e q u a l i t y of education is bad. Infrastructure is at its worst ebb. Nigerian s a r e sm a r t a n d h a r dwo rk i n g b u t we n e e d a s y s tem t h a t suppor t s work . I did my MBA in Manche ster Bu sine s s School UK with over 40 Nationalitie s r e p r e s en te d i n my cla s s . A s the Vice P re sident of E x ternal Affairs, I can attest to the fact that we are one of the smar test people in the world, but thi s ha s to tran slate to something m e a n i n gf u l dow n h e r e .L e t ’s have a Ni ge r ia w he r e me r i t counts. L et’s have a Nigeria where ethnicity and religion i s downplayed. L et’s have a safe Nigeria with good education, quality healthcare and working infrastructure.