NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CREDIT ADMINISTRATION (NICA): THE SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY FOR THE CREDIT MANAGEMENT PROFESSION IN NIGERIA

September 5, 2022

???The Federal Government of Nigeria on Tuesday, 16th August, 2022 signed into law an Act which establishes National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA). Nigeria’s credit management doyen and founder of the profession Prof. Chris Onalo, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing into law the Act of the National Assembly and making the (former) Institute of Credit Administration (ICA) nationally recognized. With the President’s assent, the institute is now known as the National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA), Act No. 1018 of 2022.

???Professor Chris Onalo, the Founding Registrar & Chief Executive Officer of the Institute thanked Buhari administration for making the dream of many years possible after operating without national recognition for three decades. He also expressed appreciation to all those who worked tirelessly and whose support made the vision a reality. According to him, to bring credit management into the basket of professions in Nigeria was a tough one, bad management of trade credit, poor treatment in business credit dealings with SMEs is over, lax ?financial credit management, abuse of political credit, unprofessional handling of consumer credit are all over. The Institute is enabled to promote the integrity and weigh the capacity of government to borrow for economic development against the backdrop of internal creditworthiness of the overall economy. Similarly, to handle any form of credit management or credit control functions will require a person to be academically, professionally and experientially qualified through capacity building and skills development programmes. With the robust curriculum modules already developed for the study of credit management by the Institute, Nigerians are set for the attainment of academic and professional qualifications in credit administration which prepares them for credit management functional positions in the labour market of credit industry, both nationally and internationally.

???The National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA) ?is the collaborative partner that employers in the credit industry need in order to hold their credit analysts, credit controllers, credit managers, directors of credit, to mention but a few, accountable in cases of unethical credit management conduct or abuse of office. Training organizations running credit management or credit administration courses, educational Institutions offering credit management/credit administration programmes, or business organizations operating a credit management training department as part of their operational capacity building will be required to seek accreditation for their credit management training courses from the Institute.

As part of national awareness creation and to encourage and promote healthy credit/bad debt recovery, NICA will mount “pay your Bill National Awareness Campaign Day” every year which will affect everyone, every institution or organization indebted to one another. Multinational organizations, blue-chip companies and conglomerate businesses will be encouraged to put in place payment policy that pays SMEs invoices for the supplies they made within 7 or 14 days from the date that such invoice was submitted. This will enable SMEs in the country to have a good financial breath to run their businesses. More importantly, NICA will seek to influence executive policies of government on credit economic matters, maintain a robust relationship with legislature and judiciary on related laws and interpretation of such laws as they affect credit economy of the nation or credit business transaction and management generally in the country.

???The Act enabled NICA to assist the federal and state governments in policy formulation to achieve credible and sustainable regime of industrially supported credit economy. Using credit to produce and sell more goods and services will keep the nation’s production machines running round the clocks which in turn create jobs and wealth for the nation. The present and future governments at federal and state level can collaborate with the National Institute of Credit Administration to achieve national industrialization and business growth strategy objectives. Globally, credit economy is known for promoting the culture of integrity and honesty in business or any form of commercial dealings. As a national profession body, NICA will maintain constructive advocacy for national rebirth in terms of trust, integrity and honesty characteristics – it can’t be business as usual anymore. The much desired and anticipated good standards of living in any country and Nigeria in particular, calls for respect for due process. “Buy today, pay tomorrow” is the route for decent living as this pre-disposes citizens to good things of life, leading ultimately to the availability of quality and less- priced made in Nigeria goods and services, culminating in a healthy competition amongst product producers, as well as sustainable revenue generation to government, amongst others.?

???Professor Onalo further remarked: “As a chartered prestigious body of eminent credit management elites, charged with the national task of controlling, supervising and regulating credit management profession in Nigeria, the Institute will preserve, promote, and protect the integrity, honesty and ethics in credit management profession, locally and globally. This is our token of development covenant with credit management professional internationalization.

?????“The Institute serves as the only national body of expertise for all matters relating to credit management, setting professional and ethical standards and awarding professional qualifications in credit management; testing, and assessing those who wish to become members, while enhancing, promoting and protecting the interests of business credit providers and grantors.

???“The institute will further encourage and advance education and practical training and research into credit management profession, helping to foster effective credit administration in the country, amongst others.”

As a registrar and regulator of credit management professional practice activities in Nigeria, NICA is responsible for issuing professional practice license to any person or persons who wish to set up an organization to offer professional debt recovery services, credit bureau services, credit information services ,credit rating services, credit facility mitigation/arrangement intermediary services, debt factoring and receivables management services, credit management training /education services, credit derivative services, credit management?consulting services, and such other credit management related professional practice services. The promoter(s) of the organization or company must be a Fellow of the National Institute of Credit Administration. He or she or they must in the first instance obtain professional practice License (PPL) from the National Institute of Credit Administration. These are part of professional competence requirements which the promoter or promoters of such organization must satisfy in order to register or incorporate such organization by the Corporate Affairs Commission.

???Professor Chris Onalo who like his counterparts in other professions is instrumental to credit management profession in Nigeria and a major contributor to the global development of the profession ,stressed that credit management profession require specific qualifications to be able to practice, or holds out oneself as either a credit trainee, credit officer, credit analyst, credit controller, credit manager, receivables manager, debt recovery executive, export credit manager, chief credit risk officer, general/deputy/assistant general manager, or executive director in charge of credit management, debt management director, managing director, chief executive officer, company credit committee board member, amongst others. NICA is the formal route for this, particularly recognized within the local and global credit industry. To become a credit professional, one is required to gain professional recognition from the National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA) following the completion of six months mandatory executive study Programme with the accredited Postgraduate School of Credit & Financial Management (PSCFM).

???The Institute is open to national and global membership; the only credit management professional body in the world whose membership is open to all and sundry regardless of the economic sector or industry of business an individual or organization belongs. Anyone who has ever given, taken, or managed/managing business credit, financial credit, political credit, consumer credit, cooperatives and thrift societies, or any person who, in the course of performing his or her duties in the past, present, or future, has influenced or is likely to influence the process of business or economic policy drafting engagement which can or may lead or have led to credit availability, credit accessibility, creditworthiness determination and default recovery, credit risk modeling and mitigation; such a person is fit and proper to become a member of the National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA). He or she can be a Fellow, Member, or Associate of the Institute – making credit management profession the mother of all other professions. This is the broadest and most relevant membership requirements definition ever by any institute anywhere in the world.

???With the chartered status of National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA), career-focused credit management profession is in the spotlight and the Institute is statutorily in a position to provide that link between credit professionals and credit industry. There are endless benefits for people looking to get into employment in the credit industry both in Nigeria and any other country of the world. NICA is the third largest credit management Institute in the world today, – the global number three badge of recognition in the credit industry which affirms and reinforces to employers that a holder of NICA’s qualification is immersed with competence.

???As a professional body, NICA will work together with its network and partners to lobby for change within the credit industry. NICA is at the forefront of improving competency within the credit industry, and plays a pro-active role in ensuring integrity in credit business, influencing access to credit and finance, etc, as well as providing accreditation to credit management training providers, and a strong commitment to Continual Professional Development (CPD) and lifelong learning in credit management.