New Cause for Celebration on Biodiversity and Conservation

Experts and enthusiasts in biodiversity and conservation have been collaborating for years to curb humanity’s destructive practices and accelerate positive change.

At the end of 2022, representatives of 190 countries met in Montreal at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) to agree on action to combat global biodiversity loss. Wealthy and developing nations came together to set targets, although some watered-down language sparked criticism.

COP15 was originally scheduled to take place in Kunming, China, in 2020, but was pushed back because of Covid. The conference was split in two: a virtual preamble followed by the in-person event. Participants put the delays to good use by debating and building consensus on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which includes four long-term global goals (to be completed by 2050) and 23 action-orientated targets (to be achieved by 2030). The aim is to wean the world off environmentally harmful incentives, cutting $500bn of the $1.8tn spent in annual subsidies that support deforestation, soil degradation, and high-emission livestock production. It wants to see public and private spending that supports biodiversity reach $200bn a year by 2030.

One commitment — the “30x30 target” — made headlines for its intention to protect 30 percent of land and sea by 2030. Many praised the conference for stressing the importance of bringing indigenous and local communities into the decision-making process.

“Preserving and restoring the world’s forests are among the best options to accelerate action on the climate and biodiversity crises,” said US special envoy Monica Medina. “To be successful, we need to bring together policy commitments and co-ordinated support from a range of partners — public, private and philanthropic.”

Environmental Stewards

A US conservation group called Save the Redwoods League has named the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, a coalition of 10 Northern California tribal nations, as the owner and custodian of 523 acres of the forestland. The coalition has renamed the area Tc'ih-Léh-Dûñ — which means “Fish Run Place” in the Sinkyone language — to honour the resilience of the indigenous people. "Renaming the property Tc'ih-Léh-Dûñ lets people know that it's a sacred place,” said Crista Ray, a board member of the Sinkyone Council. “It's a place for our native people.”

The land is protected as a conservation easement and joins another 180,000 acres of conserved lands along the Sinkyone coast. Save the Redwoods League first entered into a conservation agreement with a tribal entity in 2012, when it donated 164 acres of redwoods to the Sinkyone Council.

The league purchased the 523-acre property in 2020 with $3.55m in funding from Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E). PG&E also contributed a $1.13m endowment to support ongoing stewardship of the area. The utility company supports several habitat conservation programmes.

According to The Los Angeles Times, PG&E has been blamed for wildfires that have killed people and destroyed 23,000 homes and businesses in the past six years. PG&E pled guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and was fined $4m, the maximum penalty allowed. It has reached settlement agreements with wildfire victims totalling more than $13.5bn.

In Montana, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) are celebrating the return of 18,000 acres of undeveloped bison-range land to native hands. The land was seized, without tribal consent, in the 1900s, when president Theodore Roosevelt signed conservation legislation to create the National Bison Range. Donald Trump signed a law to transition management of the land back to the tribes in 2020, and US interior secretary Deb Haaland signed-off on the law in 2021. Joe Biden underscored his administration’s commitment to strengthening relations with indigenous nations by earmarking funding from his landmark infrastructure law to improve rural water infrastructure in Montana. That includes $7m for the Fort Peck Reservation and $2.5bn for the Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund. The latter aims to make good on overdue promises to deliver water resources to tribes, including for the CSKT and Blackfeet Nation.

Responsible Investment

Research from the World Economic Forum (WEF) states that $44tn of economic value-generation — over half the world’s total GDP — could be at risk if humanity’s current rate of natural destruction continues unchecked. Governments have begun to take action; China launched the Kunming Biodiversity Fund with 1.5 billion yuan ($230m), while Japan extended its biodiversity fund by 1.8 billion yen ($17m).

In February 2023, Canada announced $30m in government funding for a three-year project run by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Quebec-based Mission Inclusion, to help East African coastal communities protect natural habitats. The IUCN will lead efforts to boost biodiversity conservation and the sustainable management of protected marine areas. Mission Inclusion, an organisation fighting for vulnerable and marginalised people in Quebec and elsewhere, will pursue the economic empowerment of women in the blue economy.

The project will contribute to the aims of the Great Blue Wall initiative, an Africa-driven roadmap to achieve a nature-positive world by 2030. In November 2021, 10 nations bordering the western Indian Ocean committed to creating a network of marine conservation areas and increasing protected area in this region — now at less than 10 percent — to 30 percent by 2030. The project expects to restore two million hectares of critical ecosystems, sequester 100 million tons of CO2, and create a million “blue” jobs by 2030.

The other side of the continent is considering its own Great Blue Wall around the Gulf of Guinea, which covers about 6,000 kilometres of coastline between Senegal and Angola. Meanwhile, nations across the Sahara and Sahel regions combat desertification and promote efficient water management through the Great Green Wall initiative. The Green Climate Fund (GCF), part of the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, has approved $1.1bn in GCF finance and $2.4bn in co-finance for 11 countries in the GGW. It has also approved $31m in GCF “readiness” grants.

“Our world is experiencing a series of cascading crises that are undermining hard-fought development gains and threatening current and future generations,” UN deputy secretary-general Amina Mohammed said at the 2023 African Regional Forum for Sustainable Development in Niger. “The Great Green Wall initiative has the potential to deliver climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable populations ... The proposed Great Blue Wall can secure similar benefits from effective management of the continent's marine and freshwater ecosystems.”

Species on the Rebound

Global conservation efforts have helped some animals buck the status of endangered species. In 2022, humpback whales rebounded from a low population point of 10,000 to almost 80,000. Scientists have also observed up to 150 fin whales off the coast of Antarctica — a species once almost rendered extinct by commercial whaling.

Businesses are striving to support Nature’s recovery. The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) rerouted its fleet to protect endangered blue whales near Sri Lanka. It voluntarily changed the routes after research from International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) found that the move would reduce the risk of collision by 95 percent. “By ensuring these small changes, MSC is making a significant difference for these endangered whales,” said Sharon Livermore, director of marine conservation at IFAW. “Ship strikes are both a conservation and a welfare problem.”

In April 2022, California broke ground on the construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, The $90m project will be the largest urban wildlife crossing in the state, and is expected to be completed within two years. Montana worked with tribal community members to design and build one of the largest networks of wildlife highway crossings in the US. Guided by traditional indigenous knowledge, the state built 42 crossings along a highway that traversed sovereign tribal lands. Research shows that animal collisions have declined by 71 percent, while camera traps show the crossing is used by 22,000 animals each year.

According to the 2022 report Wildlife Comeback in Europe, reintroduction campaigns have resulted in an uptick of beavers, pelicans and bison — which are now roaming England again for the first time in thousands of years. Mozambique welcomes rhinos back after 40 years, and Nepal has helped tigers claw back from the brink of extinction.

Protecting Habitats

Europe removed a record number of dams and weirs to free the flow of water and help restore fish migration routes, boost biodiversity, and build climate resilience. Britain announced its first wetland “super reserve” — a 15,000-acre area that will provide nature-based solutions to combat climate change. In June this year, the EU parliament will vote on a nature restoration law that would set specific timetables for restoring degraded habitats — covering 1.6 million square miles across the 27 member countries.

In February 2022, Panama joined the growing list of countries, municipalities and tribal nations to adopt laws protecting Nature. As of 2022, such laws exist in 24 countries, up from 17 in 2021. Ecuador was one of the first to afford Nature legal rights, and in February 2022, its top court took steps to get territorial autonomy for indigenous communities. As part of the ruling, indigenous communities must be consulted over any extractive projects on or near their territory.

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has pledged to halt deforestation and revive the Amazon Fund, which was frozen by the end of Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency. The fund, created in 2008 by Norway and Brazil, enables wealthier countries to finance conservation in the Amazon rainforest. As of March 2023, the fund has accrued over 3,4 billion Brazilian reals ($666m). Special climate envoy John Kerry told reporters that the US Senate is considering a bill with $4.5bn in funding for forest conservation, while the House of Representatives is weighing a proposal worth $9bn.

Nature-Positive Economy

The WEF has ranked biodiversity loss as the third-most severe threat humanity will face over the next 10 years in its 2022 Global Risks Report. It has identified key transitions in the global economy that could have a dramatic impact in protecting biodiversity, while creating over 100 million jobs and bringing economic opportunities worth trillions of dollars.

The WEF encourages more compact, higher-density constructed environments to free-up land for agriculture, and curb the urban sprawl that threatens flora and fauna. Undeveloped land could be placed under conservation, and this transition will create a $665bn opportunity, with a projected three million jobs created by 2030.

Built environments should place biodiversity at the forefront of every project design, experts say. Infrastructure should be planned to avoid or minimise disruption or destruction, with wildlife crossings to connect migration schedules and food resources. All buildings should be energy- and resource-efficient. The WEF estimates this to be a $935bn opportunity that could create 38 million jobs by 2030.

It expects Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to transform urban utilities into sustainable services while ensuring universal access to clean air and water. These solutions could deliver $670bn in business opportunities and create 42 million jobs by 2030.

The WEF encourages a nature-as-infrastructure approach to development, prioritising natural ecosystems as an essential part of new-built environments. This results in cleaner air, natural water purification and increased climate resilience. It could be a $160bn market, comprising four million jobs, by 2030. The WEF suggests similar infrastructure to power the world’s roads, railways, pipelines, and ports with renewable energy. This market could reach $585bn and create 29 million new jobs by 2030.


Paolo Sironi, IBM: Creating Digital Advantage for Uncertain Times

Changing a car tyre isn’t that hard — unless the vehicle’s moving. And financial institutions have been trying to achieve the corporate equivalent of this feat over recent years.

It’s never been easy. It’s still not easy. Geopolitical uncertainty causes market shocks and recalibrations. Client demand grows. Business leaders look for sustainable products and solutions. All the while, financial services’ C-suites respond, rather than reacting.

Changes and uncertainty have made a dramatic comeback after more than a decade of relative stability in the world economy and capital markets — and it appears they may remain centre-stage for some time. The landscape will continue to transform in 2023. Financial institutions are faced with a challenge: How to preserve increasingly expensive capital, while investing in transformation to emerge stronger after the storm. Leaders will be expected to adapt and respond to geopolitical and macro-economic tensions, new “digital-native” competitors, and environmental and sustainability challenges.

In doing so, they have to redefine the real value of digital transformation.

Macro-economic tensions spur changes, epitomised by spiking inflation, which has led major central banks to raise interest rates (except in China — and Japan might be just late to the party). The US Federal Reserve Board was the first to raise rates, aware of the negative potential in an economy whose real GDP is stagnant. The European Central Bank followed, despite the recessionary effects of energy supply challenges caused by the war in Ukraine.

Sudden reversals in monetary policies may prove untenable, adding more uncertainty to future decisions. From a banking perspective, higher interest rates should favour interest rate margins which have steadily declined over the past decade, especially for institutions centred on retail and wholesale lending. But recessionary expectations are resulting in growing credit-risk appraisal and a significant increase in the cost of operations — which might offset most economic benefits for financial intermediaries.

[caption id="attachment_25059" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]<img class="size-full wp-image-25059" src="https://cfi.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/IBM-graph-1-jpg.webp" alt="Figure 1: CIR remains sustained compared to 2007; ROE declined globally since the GFC erupted. CIR measures a banks efficiency; ROE measures performance based on average shareholder equity. ROE and CIR 5y averages of the median, 1st and 3rd quartile calculated in each region across the top 25 banks by Total Assets. Note: CIR from 2010 MEA only. Note: Single year when different than 2007. Source: S&P Global, IBM Institute for Business Value. " width="1000" height="724" /> Figure 1: CIR remains sustained compared to 2007; ROE declined globally since the GFC erupted. CIR measures a banks efficiency; ROE measures performance based on average shareholder equity. ROE and CIR 5y averages of the median, 1st and 3rd quartile calculated in each region across the top 25 banks by Total Assets.
Note: CIR from 2010 MEA only. Note: Single year when different than 2007. Source: S&P Global, IBM Institute for Business Value.[/caption]

Geopolitical risk brings economic headwinds, and calls for a refreshment of strategies. Economic decoupling tests the resilience of value chains while heightening financial risk across geographies and sectors. As globalisation helped to reduce costs, deglobalisation will drive them up, fuel inflation, and change financial clients’ needs.

New competitors brought new challenges with them — and they continue to do so. Digital adoption is accelerating, exposing the shortcomings of traditional financial services. This creates an opening for digital-savvy competitors to capture and engage clients, resulting in potential revenue loss for incumbents. Large traditional institutions are hindered by legacy business and operating models that are not sufficiently agile. Many of these models were designed in another era, for another era, a time before the speed enabled by modern technologies.

Sustainability pressures mount, but data are not always available. Environmental concerns have led to new restrictions on business and economic activities. While banks can be an integral part of the sustainable solution to find new revenue opportunities, they are also exposed to fresh risks and complex compliance requirements. According to IBM research, eight out of 10 CEOs (83 percent) expect sustainability investments to produce improved business results in the next five years. But 57 percent of CEOs identify unclear ROI and economic benefits as a leading challenge, while 44 percent cite a lack of data-led insights. Financial institutions will need to navigate this area with great care, for their business and the planet.

Without business model innovation, growth and performance cannot be had. Infusing a model with new tech for increased efficiencies and enhanced value is essential. According to 2022 mid-year analysis by Wanclouds, total tech spending in retail banking bounced back from the pandemic — on target to grow by 4.3 percent and reach $250bn. Although many banks made headlines for their innovation efforts, sustained financial performance has not materialised since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. Return on average equity (ROAE) faltered industry-wide in the past decade (see Figure 1), while a sticky cost income ratio (CIR) did not sufficiently improve and in some cases worsened.

Financial institutions set up innovation centres, configured as siloed experiments rather than real transformation engines. The outcomes often failed to achieve key ambitions as part of an enterprise strategy. Many firms lacked a holistic strategy to rapidly integrate fintech services on a secure platform. Most attempted to digitalise existing business models without changing the foundations of client engagement, continuing to replicate traditional processes on mobile interfaces.

Business models need to reflect digitalisation if they are to drive growth and performance. The shift to digital prompts financial firms to search for value-based approaches to customer relationships, and that can change the institution to its core. Adjusting the business and operating models together allows technology to deliver on its promise of innovation.

Advanced Technology

Technology is a deflationary force against current uncertainties, and a conduit to new revenue opportunities. Remaining mired in legacy constraints is not an option. Many financial institutions are moving to digital foundations and transformations, and not just to keep pace with competitors. They recognise that modern banking and financial markets require ecosystems with digital capabilities that preserve resilience while leading to healthier financial performance.

But the next systemic crisis might not be about finance. Operational risk has always existed, and the chances of it causing the next crisis are higher than they’ve ever been. Why? New digital channels and ecosystems bring increased risk — cyber-risk in particular. Over the next four years, the costs associated with cybercrime ($10.5tn annually by 2025) are estimated to exceed worldwide cybersecurity spending ($267.3bn annually by 2026).

Rather than living in a state of perennial defence, where attention is focused on mitigating threats and surviving to fight another day, chief risk officers (CROs) are recognising security as an essential thread that ties together an organisation’s business and tech strategies. They’re using it to unlock larger pools of value, aligning operations for greater efficiencies, and collaborating more effectively to deliver better outcomes.

According to 2022 IBV research, chief information and technical officers of global financial institutions have defined unified security frameworks — from cyber-risk to compliance postures — as their top priority to generate greater business value in the next three years

This year’s Global Outlook for Banking and Financial Markets, from the Institute for Business Value, reflects on these aspects of the global macro-economic environment, pondering the investments made by key institutions in every jurisdiction, and on the lessons learned. It also looks at new ways forward, unpacking the uncertainty that seems sure to remain in 2023.

Digital transformation has been difficult; limited success is often a reality before coding even begins — for several reasons.

First, C-suites need board engagement to help them address skills gaps in the workforce. Second, digital transformations require funding, but in ways that differ from traditional growth strategies, which can be challenging. Risk also must be managed — but in a new operational space, firms have limited experience dealing with a host of new vulnerabilities.

Add to this scenario the fact that 2,000 CIOs and CTOs around the world have identified a lack of multi-year commitment from top management as the main factor hindering the success of their cloud strategies.

In any business or digital transformation, there is an essential question to consider: Do customers and employees have better experiences as a result? Transformations that empower the workforce lead to more efficient servicing of dynamic customer needs. There must be access to data and AI platforms for optimal performance — combining human and digital intelligence. Transformations that enable better experiences help the enterprise move from reactive to responsive across the value chain.

In 2023 and beyond, what sits at the heart of growth and performance, cost and efficiency, risk and compliance?

It’s people.

It’s experiences.

The 2023 Global Outlook for Banking and Financial can be found at: ibm.co/2023-banking-financial-markets-outlook

About the Author

[caption id="attachment_25058" align="aligncenter" width="269"] Author: Paolo Sironi[/caption]

Paolo Sironi is the global research leader in banking and financial markets at IBM, the Institute for Business Value. He is a former start-up entrepreneur and quantitative risk manager in investment banking. Paolo is the author of literature about finance, banking, and digital innovation. Member of the IBM Industry Academy, his latest bestseller Banks and Fintech on Platform Economies explores how platform theory, born outside of financial services, will make its way inside banking and financial markets to radically transform the way firms do business.

Visit Paolo's website thePSironi.com for more information.

Changing a car tyre isn’t that hard — unless the vehicle’s moving. And financial institutions have been trying to achieve the corporate equivalent of this feat over recent years.

It’s never been easy. It’s still not easy. Geopolitical uncertainty causes market shocks and recalibrations. Client demand grows. Business leaders look for sustainable products and solutions. All the while, financial services’ C-suites respond, rather than reacting.

Changes and uncertainty have made a dramatic comeback after more than a decade of relative stability in the world economy and capital markets — and it appears they may remain centre-stage for some time. The landscape will continue to transform in 2023. Financial institutions are faced with a challenge: How to preserve increasingly expensive capital, while investing in transformation to emerge stronger after the storm. Leaders will be expected to adapt and respond to geopolitical and macro-economic tensions, new “digital-native” competitors, and environmental and sustainability challenges.

In doing so, they have to redefine the real value of digital transformation.

Macro-economic tensions spur changes, epitomised by spiking inflation, which has led major central banks to raise interest rates (except in China — and Japan might be just late to the party). The US Federal Reserve Board was the first to raise rates, aware of the negative potential in an economy whose real GDP is stagnant. The European Central Bank followed, despite the recessionary effects of energy supply challenges caused by the war in Ukraine.

Sudden reversals in monetary policies may prove untenable, adding more uncertainty to future decisions. From a banking perspective, higher interest rates should favour interest rate margins which have steadily declined over the past decade, especially for institutions centred on retail and wholesale lending. But recessionary expectations are resulting in growing credit-risk appraisal and a significant increase in the cost of operations — which might offset most economic benefits for financial intermediaries.

[caption id="attachment_25059" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Figure 1: CIR remains sustained compared to 2007; ROE declined globally since the GFC erupted. CIR measures a banks efficiency; ROE measures performance based on average shareholder equity. ROE and CIR 5y averages of the median, 1st and 3rd quartile calculated in each region across the top 25 banks by Total Assets.
Note: CIR from 2010 MEA only. Note: Single year when different than 2007. Source: S&P Global, IBM Institute for Business Value.[/caption]
Geopolitical risk brings economic headwinds, and calls for a refreshment of strategies. Economic decoupling tests the resilience of value chains while heightening financial risk across geographies and sectors. As globalisation helped to reduce costs, deglobalisation will drive them up, fuel inflation, and change financial clients’ needs.

New competitors brought new challenges with them — and they continue to do so. Digital adoption is accelerating, exposing the shortcomings of traditional financial services. This creates an opening for digital-savvy competitors to capture and engage clients, resulting in potential revenue loss for incumbents. Large traditional institutions are hindered by legacy business and operating models that are not sufficiently agile. Many of these models were designed in another era, for another era, a time before the speed enabled by modern technologies.

Sustainability pressures mount, but data are not always available. Environmental concerns have led to new restrictions on business and economic activities. While banks can be an integral part of the sustainable solution to find new revenue opportunities, they are also exposed to fresh risks and complex compliance requirements. According to IBM research, eight out of 10 CEOs (83 percent) expect sustainability investments to produce improved business results in the next five years. But 57 percent of CEOs identify unclear ROI and economic benefits as a leading challenge, while 44 percent cite a lack of data-led insights. Financial institutions will need to navigate this area with great care, for their business and the planet.

Without business model innovation, growth and performance cannot be had. Infusing a model with new tech for increased efficiencies and enhanced value is essential. According to 2022 mid-year analysis by Wanclouds, total tech spending in retail banking bounced back from the pandemic — on target to grow by 4.3 percent and reach $250bn. Although many banks made headlines for their innovation efforts, sustained financial performance has not materialised since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. Return on average equity (ROAE) faltered industry-wide in the past decade (see Figure 1), while a sticky cost income ratio (CIR) did not sufficiently improve and in some cases worsened.

Financial institutions set up innovation centres, configured as siloed experiments rather than real transformation engines. The outcomes often failed to achieve key ambitions as part of an enterprise strategy. Many firms lacked a holistic strategy to rapidly integrate fintech services on a secure platform. Most attempted to digitalise existing business models without changing the foundations of client engagement, continuing to replicate traditional processes on mobile interfaces.

Business models need to reflect digitalisation if they are to drive growth and performance. The shift to digital prompts financial firms to search for value-based approaches to customer relationships, and that can change the institution to its core. Adjusting the business and operating models together allows technology to deliver on its promise of innovation.

Advanced Technology

Technology is a deflationary force against current uncertainties, and a conduit to new revenue opportunities. Remaining mired in legacy constraints is not an option. Many financial institutions are moving to digital foundations and transformations, and not just to keep pace with competitors. They recognise that modern banking and financial markets require ecosystems with digital capabilities that preserve resilience while leading to healthier financial performance.

But the next systemic crisis might not be about finance. Operational risk has always existed, and the chances of it causing the next crisis are higher than they’ve ever been. Why? New digital channels and ecosystems bring increased risk — cyber-risk in particular. Over the next four years, the costs associated with cybercrime ($10.5tn annually by 2025) are estimated to exceed worldwide cybersecurity spending ($267.3bn annually by 2026).

Rather than living in a state of perennial defence, where attention is focused on mitigating threats and surviving to fight another day, chief risk officers (CROs) are recognising security as an essential thread that ties together an organisation’s business and tech strategies. They’re using it to unlock larger pools of value, aligning operations for greater efficiencies, and collaborating more effectively to deliver better outcomes.
According to 2022 IBV research, chief information and technical officers of global financial institutions have defined unified security frameworks — from cyber-risk to compliance postures — as their top priority to generate greater business value in the next three years

This year’s Global Outlook for Banking and Financial Markets, from the Institute for Business Value, reflects on these aspects of the global macro-economic environment, pondering the investments made by key institutions in every jurisdiction, and on the lessons learned. It also looks at new ways forward, unpacking the uncertainty that seems sure to remain in 2023.

Digital transformation has been difficult; limited success is often a reality before coding even begins — for several reasons.

First, C-suites need board engagement to help them address skills gaps in the workforce. Second, digital transformations require funding, but in ways that differ from traditional growth strategies, which can be challenging. Risk also must be managed — but in a new operational space, firms have limited experience dealing with a host of new vulnerabilities.

Add to this scenario the fact that 2,000 CIOs and CTOs around the world have identified a lack of multi-year commitment from top management as the main factor hindering the success of their cloud strategies.

In any business or digital transformation, there is an essential question to consider: Do customers and employees have better experiences as a result? Transformations that empower the workforce lead to more efficient servicing of dynamic customer needs. There must be access to data and AI platforms for optimal performance — combining human and digital intelligence. Transformations that enable better experiences help the enterprise move from reactive to responsive across the value chain.

In 2023 and beyond, what sits at the heart of growth and performance, cost and efficiency, risk and compliance?

It’s people.

It’s experiences.

The 2023 Global Outlook for Banking and Financial can be found at: ibm.co/2023-banking-financial-markets-outlook

About the Author

[caption id="attachment_25058" align="aligncenter" width="269"] Author: Paolo Sironi[/caption]
Paolo Sironi is the global research leader in banking and financial markets at IBM, the Institute for Business Value. He is a former start-up entrepreneur and quantitative risk manager in investment banking. Paolo is the author of literature about finance, banking, and digital innovation. Member of the IBM Industry Academy, his latest bestseller Banks and Fintech on Platform Economies explores how platform theory, born outside of financial services, will make its way inside banking and financial markets to radically transform the way firms do business.

Visit Paolo's website thePSironi.com for more information.


David Hume’s Philosophy, Controversy, Superstition, Atheism — and Lucky Toes

The Scots philosopher’s sometimes divisive words gave him prominence in life, as in death.

[caption id="attachment_25065" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Edinburgh, Scotland: David Hume statue and St Giles Cathedral[/caption]

It’s ironic that a statue of the 18th Century Scottish historian and philosopher David Hume, situated at the top of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, has earned a reputation for bestowing good luck.

The toes on the right foot of the statue, which depicts Hume in the flowing robes of a Greek philosopher, gleam from countless touches by passing townsfolk, tourists, philosophy students, and defendants on their way to the nearby courthouse.

How a statue commemorating a colossus of The Enlightenment — a man who detested superstition — should have earned a reputation for bringing good fortune remains a mystery.

His most famous work, A Treatise of Human Nature, is recognised as a cornerstone of modern philosophy. It contains hints about the author’s character — and readers may conclude that he’d find the toe-rubbing tradition amusing.

Hume was a famously jovial character who, in middle age, packed on some weight thanks to his taste for fine food and port. In the company of fellow thinkers and drinkers at Edinburgh’s notorious Poker Club, he would “dine, play a game of backgammon, converse and be merry with my friends”.

Hume was born in an Edinburgh tenement in 1711. His father died two years later, and his mother Catherine raised her three children alone. The young David was a precocious child, admitted to the city’s university at the age of 12, but academia wasn’t for him. “There is nothing to be learned from a professor which is not to be met with in books,” he announced.

He left without graduating and concentrated on the pursuit of philosophical thought, devouring the works of Cicero and Virgil. In 1734, aged 23, he travelled to France to “prosecute my studies in a country retreat”.

He spent the next three years there, working on his three-volume work A Treatise of Human Nature, which was published in 1739 after he returned home. The book is considered to be one of the most influential works in the history of philosophy, and Hume’s most important — but it failed to make an immediate impact. Hume wrote: “Never literary attempt was more unfortunate than my Treatise. It fell dead-born from the press, without reaching such distinction as even to excite a murmur among the zealots.”

Later in life, recognising that he’d “gone to press too early”, Hume revisited his tome, reshaping and clarifying various sections. While this book is the one for which he is chiefly celebrated today, Hume had a greater triumph with his History of England, published in the 1750s.

Hume never strayed far from controversy. His atheism led to him be blocked by the Church of Scotland from taking up posts at Glasgow or Edinburgh universities. His writings were also “listed” by the Vatican’s Index Librorum Prohibitorum — meaning that Roman Catholics were prohibited from reading his books.

In 1776, the year of his death at the age of 65, Hume wrote a short account of his life in which he admitted to a “love of literary fame”. He’d travelled to Paris where he was surprised to be met with great respect and affection. He was earning a salary of £1,000, which in those times made for comfortable living. He never married.

The University of Edinburgh, having apparently forgiven him, named a tower after him. Hume’s status as Scotland’s greatest philosopher at last became apparent.

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Hume’s stated belief that white Europeans were superior to black Africans threatened to cast a shadow over his legacy. Protestors looped a placard containing the offending quote around the neck of his statue. The controversy illustrates the complexity of applying modern judgements to historical characters.

Hume, who remained an atheist until death, joked that he might ask the ferryman to Hades to allow him a few more years of life in order to see “the downfall of superstition”. The ferryman, said Hume, would reply: “You loitering rogue! That will not happen these many hundred years… Get into the boat this instant!”

And David Hume’s “lucky foot” is still being rubbed.

By Tony Lennox


Rugby Injuries Tackled Head-on as Fans, Clubs and Ruling Bodies Put Renewed Focus on Player Safety

Tony Lennox reports on the ruck forming around rule changes to the rough-but-popular game of the oval ball.

Hollywood legend Richard Burton had a true Welsh passion for rugby. He once said he’d rather play for his country at Cardiff Arms Park than portray Hamlet at the Old Vic. He introduced his wife, Elizabeth Taylor, to the sport after their first marriage. “I prefer rugby to soccer,” she said. “I enjoy the violence, except when they start biting each other’s ears off.”

Rugby Union was described by Sir Winston Churchill as “a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen”. But this cavalier approach to violence on the pitch, and to player safety, is being crash-tackled as the game edges into a new era — which some say could threaten its future.

The clamour comes at a difficult time. English premiership rugby is in financial crisis, principally from loss-of-income during the pandemic. Two major clubs have disappeared from the league because of cash shortages. Club owners are at loggerheads with the game’s ruling body in England, the Rugby Football Union (RFU), over rule-changes about the ways players can make a tackle.

The RFU, which is responsible for grassroots rugby, is walking a tightrope in its support for the sport at amateur level. It oversees some 2,000 local clubs and promotes rugby in schools to ensure a strong national team — but recognises increasing risk in the professional game. Since union went professional in 1995, players have become bigger, fitter, faster and stronger. International players today are, on average, 10 per cent heavier than their amateur predecessors. The combination of extra weight and speed means that tackles have become more brutal – and injuries have increased.

"English premiership rugby is in financial crisis, principally from loss-of-income during the pandemic. Two major clubs have disappeared from the league because of cash shortages."

Ten years ago, 4,500 former professional players of American Football, a similarly punishing contact sport, sued the National Football League (NFL) for “downplaying the consequences of concussion”. The NFL has paid out $700m in out-of-court settlements. Now the RFU, and governing bodies throughout the rugby-playing world, are facing similar class actions for systemic negligence in player protection.

This has sparked a push to re-evaluate the rules — the latest being a decision to ban above-the-waist tackles, a move which has been ridiculed by some sporting legends. Ed Bartlett, of level six rugby club Old Reigatians in Surrey, has started a petition to reverse the rule-change. “Dropping the tackle height will make the game a farcical spectacle to watch,” he says. Ireland captain Johnny Sexton agrees that the new rule could “fundamentally change the game”.

The British Journal of Sports Medicine categorises union as considerably riskier than rugby league, soccer, American football, or ice hockey. Broken bones, torn ligaments, bite injuries and concussion are common at all levels — and there is growing evidence that repeated head trauma is linked to brain damage.

Many supporters of the sport are becoming disillusioned by constant rule changes. They say the natural flow of the game is being disrupted, with stoppages in play increasing and refereeing decisions causing confusion for spectators. Purists argue that rugby is a high-impact collision sport, and that injuries are inevitable. No-one is forced to play, they point out.

Those backing the rule changes, however, counter with the estimate that the probability of a player being injured during a season is as high as 90 percent.

“Should I allow my child to play rugby?” is a frequently posed question on social media forums such as Mumsnet. And while the game at youth level has adopted many new safety measures — including touch-rugby for under-sevens and weight limits for teenage players — many parents remain fearful for their children.

Some schools are removing rugby from the sports curriculum for fear of lawsuits. And in litigious times, who can criticise that caution? In his diaries, rugby-loving Richard Burton once wrote: “I grew up among heroes who went down the pit, who played rugby, told stories, sang songs of war.”

He was describing a way of life which may no longer be sustainable.


Taking on Giants, and Winning: Aquis Exchange Shares Equinox Benefits with Trading Ecosystem

 ‘We’re regularly beating these 800-pound gorillas, and winning deals out from under them,’ says Aquis MD Adrian Ip...

Aquis Exchange Plc is celebrating Equinox, a world first that took 10 years to perfect and reduces the latent time of a trade to mere microseconds. “It’s been a huge journey to get here,” says managing director Adrian Ip.

[caption id="attachment_25074" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Adrian Ip, MD[/caption]

Equinox is a regulated market-grade 24/7 matching engine which never requires shutdown or downtime.

Aquis Exchange consists of three divisions: Aquis Markets, a subscription-based exchange offering pan-European cash equities trading; Aquis Technologies, which develops and licenses next-generation exchange technology globally; and Aquis Stock Exchange, a growth and regulated primary exchange delivering capital to companies via the listing and trading of shares.

Apart from pure speed, Equinox’s secret is in providing the tech and expertise to keep an exchange rolling, without the routine shut-downs. “A lot of the trading world today operates purely on the basis that we shut down markets every day, and do all the things we can do out-of-hours to maintain them,” says Ip. “All that has now completely gone.

“Exchanges typically run in a high-availability fashion. What that means is that we have multiple matching engines — matching engines are the heart of the exchange, of course — taking buy and sell orders and matching them together. What we’ve done with Equinox is to take the high-availability model, where we run multiple matching engines, and made it so we can switch back and forth between them while manually taking down old-version components and upgrading them — leaving everything running on one of the failover matching engines.”

London-headquartered Aquis runs various markets in Europe; it has three matching engines running for any given production market: two in its primary centre, and one in its failover centre. “We have all the tools to ensure that these matching engines are continually maintaining their state across multiple locations and physical networks and servers.

“We’ve given ourselves the ability, at any given point in time, to be able to manually take down one of these components, all of the ancillary things like market data systems and everything else, take them down, switch over to a failover process, do some maintenance on the ones we’ve taken down, and then bring them back up again while still maintaining the state of the live order books and trading carrying on in the background.

“That’s the magic sauce. I think it benefits the entire ecosystem.”

Aquis was founded 10 years ago as a pan-European multilateral trading facility. “Basically, we offer trading in European stocks; we refer to that as ‘the markets business’. Anyone who wants to trade any one of thousands of large and mid-cap companies around Europe can trade them on a variety of exchanges, including Aquis.”

The group’s trading volume is between €2bn and €6bn a day; Aquis is usually about fifth- to seventh-largest in Europe. “We built our own technology in-house to run all of these markets: matching engines, market data systems, trading gateways, all of this sort of stuff, as well as market surveillance systems.

“That’s the largest revenue driver of Aquis today, but we have two additional divisions. We run the technology stacks for all of our own markets, but we also licence it to other exchanges around the world. We did a large piece of work with SGX, the Singapore national exchange, in conjunction with AWS (Amazon Web Services) to prove that we can put matching engines into the purely virtualised cloud, and to prove that that was viable for an ultra-low latency exchange. That really put us on the map. We’re seeing quite a lot of uptake.”

The group has been testing Equinox with clients for the last year and built its own platform 10 years ago, “but in the exchange world,” notes Ip, “10 years is the blink of an eye. Companies that we’re  competing with have been around for decades or centuries.

“We’re basically the newest matching engine on the block. We go up against people like Nasdaq, London Stock Exchange, companies like that which also license their technology. And we’re regularly beating these 800-pound gorillas, and winning deals out from under them.

“The tech business is now contributing a pretty significant portion of revenues. It’s some way behind the original markets business, but it’s growing quite rapidly.”

There have been challenges along the way, of course: “Financial services are heavily regulated — I’ve been in the industry since the late 1990s: market data, banks, high-frequency trading, and obviously exchanges,” Ip says. “Exchanges are the most highly regulated institutions that there are. We really need to do everything that we can for the benefit of the market. Exchanges are part of the infrastructure, so ultimately, regulation is there to prevent consumer detriment and ensure that we’re all playing in a fair and orderly market.”

Technology is also a big part of it. “We’re solving major technological problems with the stacks that we build, and that is all built around this concept of fair and orderly markets. But we are a for-profit business, so we need to do things better, and faster, and more efficiently than our competitors.

Aquis Exchange has the fastest matching engine you can buy, says Ip. “We benchmark latency in a traditional data centre, where we control the hardware, at about 10 microseconds. That’s from an order coming in on the gateway to the acknowledgement going back out.

“We’re innovating in the way people are trading, too, making things better for end investors. At the end of the day, it’s your and my pensions, and all these other investments that people around the world have, that are performing well, or not. We play our part in that.”


Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez: Seldom Down, Never Out

Echoes of the Franco Era still haunt Spain in subtle and often divisive ways. Now, a vibrant democracy, the country has taken decades to shed its past and rid society of the last vestiges and symbols of authoritarianism. A watershed moment was reached when Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ordered the remains of dictator Francisco Franco moved from a vast mausoleum to a more modest grave.

[caption id="attachment_25084" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez[/caption]

Though the Franco family challenged the reburial in court, the exhumation went ahead as planned with the coffin carried out of the grand basilica in the Valley of the Fallen by the dictator’s descendants and on to a helicopter for transport to a chapel at the Madrid Mingorrubio cemetery. In a clear sign of the unease still sparked by the Franco legacy, the family were not allowed to drape the coffin with the national flag. Instead, they carried the flag used at the dictator’s 1975 funeral in an act of quiet protest.

It took considerable political audacity for Prime Minister Sánchez to direct the removal of Franco’s remains from the Valley of the Fallen – about 50 kms northwest of Madrid. Here, a vast, and to many unsightly, mausoleum was carved out of a rockface with the help of prison labour. The complex, including an underground basilica that rivals in size St Peter’s in Rome, is overlooked by a 150-metre-high cross – reportedly the tallest such structure the world. An adjacent Benedictine abbey houses the priests who say perpetual mass for the peace of those fallen during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).

An estimated 30,000 fighters from both sides of the war are buried here. The site has been a focal point for Franco supporters and a shrine of the extremist right. Prime Minister Sánchez expressed hope that the Valley may now become a place of remembrance for all victims of the civil war.

Naturally Daring

Prime Minister Sánchez (51) is not shy when circumstance calls for daring. With the odds stacked against him and his socialist party (PSOE – Partido Socialista Obrero Español), he narrowly “won” the November 2019 election, securing just 120 out of the 350 congressional seats, but keeping ahead of all other parties. The meagre result did not stop the PSOE-leader from teaming up with his main rival on the left Podemos (35 seats) to form a minority government with the implicit blessing of the Catalan Republicans (13 seats).

At the time, few in Spain would have placed a bet on the longevity of the Sánchez II cabinet. After all, his first stint at the head of a minority government lasted only 272 days and tripped over the 2019 budget for which he failed to obtain congressional approval. The proverbial comeback kid of Spanish politics, Sánchez may be downed but never defeated.

In 2016, he was almost summarily removed as party secretary general by PSOE grandees – amongst them iconic former prime minister Felipe González and the Andalusian socialist leader Susana Díaz – after he failed to impress the need for a centre-of-left coalition with newcomer Podemos. Just a year earlier, Ms Díaz had managed to distance the PSOE from the communist-dominated United Left (Izquierda Unida), breaking a bond established in the early days of Spain’s transition to democracy. She was not about to make the same mistake twice and preferred the party to plot its own course.

However, Sánchez promptly put in a new bid for the party leadership and in the 2017 primaries managed to edge out both Díaz and another contender, thus reclaiming his old position. Whilst this power struggle was unfolding, Díaz had navigated the party into the curious and unnatural position of tacitly supporting the minority government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of the centre-of-right Popular Party (Partido Popular).

After Díaz’ ouster, Sánchez reluctantly agreed to uphold the deal until Prime Minister Rajoy became embroiled in a hugely embarrassing corruption scandal that rocked the nation to the core and sparked the first-ever vote of no confidence against a Spanish prime minister since the country’s return to democracy.

Upsetting the Apple Cart

From 1982 to 2015, Spain’s political landscape was clear, flat, and easy to understand and navigate. Two parties, one on each side of the ideological divide, dominated the landscape and regularly swapped places in government. There was no need for messy or awkward coalitions since either one could invariably claim an absolute majority in parliament. The scenery began to change in the wake of the 2008/9 financial crisis which hit Spain harder than most countries.

Populist movements on the left – such as the Indignados Movement that grew out of the massive anti-austerity protests which erupted on May 15, 2011 – quickly capitalised on the wave of discontent and coalesced into Podemos (We Can). The new party claimed the slice of the progressive political spectrum abandoned by the PSOE and caused a major upset in the 2015 general election when the list it headed (an agglomeration of smaller and often single-issue parties) obtained almost 21% of the popular vote and secured 69 congressional seats. Podemos has since formalised a grand coalition on the left with Izquierda Unida, previously spurned by the PSOE, to form Unida Podemos.

The rise of the populist left was mirrored almost to perfection on the right with the ascendancy of Ciudadanos, a liberal right-of-centre party with Barcelona origins. Occupying the political space forfeited by the Partido Popular, severely wounded after its implication in a number of corruption scandals, Ciudadanos became the fourth-largest party in the country after the 2015 general election and debuted in congress with 40 seats. The party briefly supported Pedro Sánchez in a failed bid to form a government.

Since then, Ciudadanos has moved a bit more to the right bumping into “great disrepute” conservative politics suffer for historical reasons – and losing at the polls as a result. Its attempts at becoming a catch-all party, along the lines of the British Tories or, indeed, Spain’s own Partido Popular in its heyday, have largely failed. In the 2019 election, Ciudadanos secured just seven percent of the vote – the worst result ever for the party and good for only ten seats in congress.

Minding the Pitfalls

Prime Minister Sánchez has so far managed to deftly navigate the fractured political landscape and keep his PSOE in the driver’s seat. He exudes an unmistakeable air of stateman-like strength, vigour, and firmness, much more than perhaps justified by his rickety coalition and with partners that excel in quarrelling. Nonetheless, his government is now likely to serve its full term. Late last year, he even managed to get a budget approved on time – almost unheard of in Spain.

However, political realities have forced the prime minister into compromises that have infuriated many of his supporters. The most controversial of these involved scrapping the archaic law of sedition, untouched since its introduction in 1822. The move was imposed on the government by the pro-independence Catalan Republican Left (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) on which the prime minister’s minority government relies for support in congress. The law has been replaced with one that includes the more innocuous-sounding charge of “aggravated public disorder.”

Sánchez justifies his conciliatory approach to Catalonian independence by pointing out that tensions have eased considerably: “The main task of any leader is to build coexistence and that’s what we’re doing.” In mid-2021, Prime Minister Sánchez surprised friend and foe by announcing partial pardons for nine separatist leaders jailed for their role in the organisation of an irregular and unlawful independence referendum. They had been found guilty of crimes ranging from sedition to the misuse of public funds and convicted to serve prison terms between nine and thirteen years.

By ordering the release of the separatists, Sánchez took a remarkable risk. A poll taken just before he unveiled his decision showed that 61 percent of Spaniards opposed clemency with just 29 percent of respondents espousing a more lenient view. However, just two weeks later that sentiment had started to change with just a slim and shrinking majority still against the pardon.

Former regional president Carles Puigdemont, who organised the rushed independence drive, was not eligible for a pardon since he remains in self-imposed exile in Belgium and has not been tried. He dismissed the Sánchez’ actions as “showboating” and branded the pardons as “personal, not political, solutions.”

Puigdemont’s Together for Catalonia party has since fallen out with the Catalan Republican Left, adding significantly to the loss of pro-independence momentum. The latest polls show a razor-thin, almost Brexit-like, majority of voters opposed to independence. Prime Minister Sánchez’ tactic seems to bear more fruit than the gung-ho way of his predecessor Mariano Rajoy who threw the book at the separatist, inflaming passions on both sides – a particularly dangerous thing to do in Spain given the country’s past.

Only Yes Is Yes

Another, and perhaps more prosaic row, erupted over the Podemos-inspired sexual consent law, aka the “only yes is yes” law meant to combat the proclivity of Spanish courts to hand rapists only light sentences when victims fail to prove they strongly resisted their attackers. However, due to a restacking of criminal offence categories, the law had the exact opposite effect to the one intended. Since “only yes is yes” came into force, those convicted of sex crimes have seen their sentences reduced considerably, leading to howls of indignation from conservatives.

Vox, a party far to the right of the Partido Popular, has been particularly vociferous in its criticism of the Sánchez II government. The party consistently seeks to paint the prime minister and his government as a cabinet of leftist curiosities/loons intend on destroying everything presumably precious about Spain. Returning the courtesy, the left dismisses Vox as a cabal of “fachas” (fascists) – a very grave insult in a country where many keep personal memories of Francisco Franco alive and a few still confess to missing the caudillo.

Legacy Enchilada

To deal with the Franco legacy, a political hot potato if not enchilada, Prime Minister Sánchez was determined to push his signature Democratic Memory law through both houses of congress. The senate passed the legislation by the smallest of margins late last year. The law aims to bring “justice, reparation, and dignity” to the victims of the civil war and the dictatorship that followed.

The law bans groups that glorify the Franco regime whilst it – almost paradoxically – also encourages a “shared discussion based on the defence of peace, pluralism, and human rights.” As such, it builds on the 2007 Historical Memory law introduced by José Zapatero, another socialist prime minister. Then as now, the Partido Popular strongly opposed the initiative as a possible prelude to the undermining of the 1977 amnesty law and the Pact of Forgetting which helped usher in democracy.

The PP’s business-like leader Alberto Nuñez Feijóo has promised to repeal the law if he wins next year’s general election. The PP has a clear issue with the past and the need to forget it. Mariano Rajoy – prime minister between 2011 and 2018 – was especially proud of cutting the historical memory budget to zero during his administration. Former firebrand PP leader Pablo Casado said Sánchez’ Democratic Memory law would only dig up “old grudges.”

As for digging up, a lot of that is being done all over the country to locate and identify the remains of tens of thousands of people who still lie in unmarked graves. This February, forensic experts in Catalonia recovered and identified the remains of Cipriano Martos, a young activist and trade unionist who died in police custody in 1973 after being forced to drink a mixture of petrol and sulphuric acid – touted by officers as a truth serum – during an interrogation.

Extremes such as the fate that befell the young Martos help explain why forgetting is particularly hard in Spain. Pundits often mention the “two Spains” that are destined to never meet – and remain at odds. The two countries are, thankfully, not visible on the street or audible in conversation but do shape, and poison, the political matrix. That subtly toxic undertone has turned many away from politics altogether. In the European Union, Spain scores lowest when it comes to trust in political parties (8%) and governments (22%) according to a recent Euobarometer poll.

Low Esteem

Collectively, the Spanish are also prone to light depression. Whilst most people on the outside consider the sun-drenched, beach-lined, and culture-laden country one of the best places to live or vacation anywhere in the world, the Spanish seldom tire of complaining about their inept rulers, the byzantine bureaucracy they erected and the chronic underperformance of the economy.

Often, Spaniards will wonder out loud what half a century or so of democracy has brought them, leaving out the bits about the tripling of the average income, social freedoms unthinkable before, and joining the European mainstream at long last.

The Spanish economy is still, by some measures, a laggard in Europe. Early last year, The Economist ranked Spain last on a post-pandemic recovery list of 23 countries. However, the pessimism this may have inspired was misplaced. This year, Spain moved into fourth place on that list. The performance boost was largely due to the country’s energy mix which excludes Russian natural gas.

Post-covid, tourists began to return and helped push up GDP growth to an impressive 5.5 percent in both 2021 and 2022 – undoing the damage wrought by the pandemic in 2020 when the Spanish economy shrank by a staggering 11.3 percent. The International Monetary Fund expects the economy to keep growing, albeit at a much-reduced pace of 1.1 percent, this year. However, that would still beat the IMF forecast for the euro area.

Inflation remains steady and hovers around the 6 percent mark – also lower than many of the country’s EU peers. Meanwhile, the stock market is booming with the Ibex barrelling ahead, gaining just over 14 percent in January and February, and reaching its highest level since February 2020 – the month before the pandemic burst onto the global scene. Banks have put in an especially remarkable performance with Santander, CaixaBank, and Sabadell all registering gains deep into double digit territory and announcing record dividend pay outs – notwithstanding the 4.8 percent windfall tax introduced late last year on the banks’ income from interest and commissions.

Happy Coincidences

With the economy performing better than expected, Pedro Sánchez is ready to face down his detractors in the upcoming municipal elections (May), widely considered a rehearsal for the general elections scheduled to take place in December.

The opposition argues that regardless of international comparisons, things are objectively bad with almost no wage growth and huge price increases of staples such as olive oil (+40 percent), sugar (+50 percent), and non-alcoholic beverages (+15 percent). Food inflation, long a thorn in the government’s side, runs at an estimated 15 percent even after a €700m cut in VAT on basic items.

Economy minister Nadia Calviño blames the slow release of the €77bn in grants the country received under the EU’s pandemic recovery programme. Though the funds have been paid by Brussels, spending has been held up because of Spain’s highly decentralised form of government. With each of the seventeen autonomous regions having their own bureaucracies, it takes time for support funds to reach the intended beneficiaries.

Minister Calviño expects that most of the red tape involving the distribution of EU cash will have been dealt with during the course of the year: “That’s when we’ll see their impact.” She perhaps forgot to mention that the timing conveniently dovetails with the next general election.

Meanwhile, the Spanish tax service reports a surge in revenue unmatched by any other euro zone country. In 2022, the tax haul hit its highest level ever, jumping 15.9 percent year-on-year and injecting an extra €30bn into state coffers. Economic growth and inflation explain only part of the fiscal windfall. The relative generosity of the Sánchez administration, and its multiple social support initiatives, seems to offer a more likely explanation.

Good News

Finance ministry officials believe that behavioural changes in the “grey economy” – the shady zone of unregistered activity – have been crucial in upping the national tax intake. During the pandemic, many people discovered that being under the fiscal radar would disqualify them from receiving any form of government support. Likewise, businesses found that liquidity support was either unavailable or minimal if most of their work was kept off the books.

According to a 2018 IMF estimate, Spain’s shadow economy represented 17.2 percent of GDP. Pulling that significant slice out of the dark zone, if only partially, is a major accomplishment – intended or otherwise – of the Sánchez administration.
So far, the tax boost is not being deployed to reduce the government’s structural spending deficit which currently stands at around 5 percent of GDP – well above the temporarily suspended 3 percent eurozone ceiling. In 2022, Spain’s debt-to-GDP ratio has, however, dropped markedly from a high of 118 percent to 113 percent – the steepest decline on record.

There is even so a long way to go to make up for the lavish spending during the pandemic which pushed up the debt-to-GDP ratio by almost twenty percentage points. But Calviño remains optimistic: “Despite the complex international context of the war in Ukraine, the Spanish economy is absorbing the extraordinary impact of the pandemic at an unprecedented rate.”

Chameleon

Pedro Sánchez possesses an undeniable knack for political survival. He is a master at picking the battles he can win whilst carefully avoiding those that he cannot. Keeping a minority government afloat with the help of a feeble and often unpredictable coalition partner is not a minor achievement. Implementing a reasonably clear and consistent set of policy initiatives under such a circumstance borders on genius.

It is a given that Prime Minister Sánchez has mastered the art of compromise. However, this allows the opposition to brand him an unprincipled chameleon willing to change colours to hold on to his lofty perch. Though there may be a grain of truth to the allegation, Sánchez did succeed in bringing a measure of stability to the politics in Spain which was noticeably absent before.

Though polls indicate the PSOE may not win the December general election, the Partido Popular would be ill-advised to count their predicted win as a given. Sánchez, the Spanish comeback kid, is unlikely to roll over and leave the stage without putting up a good fight. Moreover, the PP cannot possibly obtain an outright majority – those days are past – and has only the hard-right extremist Vox to turn to as a possible coalition partner. The return of “fachas” to power is a prospect that may yet drive Spanish voters to the PSOE and Sánchez in unexpected droves.

Also, and not to be underestimated, is Sánchez’ expert handling of the pandemic and its economic and social fallout, and the shockwaves caused by the Ukraine War. It is no exaggeration to conclude that the world has changed almost beyond recognition over the past three years with previous certainties gone and a host of new uncertainties introduced.

Spain, never known for its financial or economic resilience, and still busy absorbing and dealing with the repercussions of the 2008/9 banking crisis, was perhaps not expected to survive as well as it did – and even prosper. Prime Minister Sánchez’ extraordinary adaptability to the unexpected, and his agility in responding to crises of whatever kind, have been crucial in avoiding a meltdown and instrumental in plotting a course to a sustainable future. That legacy may well be his best asset in the upcoming election campaign – and one hard to beat.

By Wim Romeijn


The Top Traits of a Great CEO

Does your chief exec have what it takes? Do you? Naomi Snelling tells you how to find out...

Nothing can properly prepare you for parenthood, and the same is true for being a CEO. The challenges are immense, but the rewards are fulfilling.

There may be no rule book, but there are some guidelines.

BE YOURSELF

… and continue to grow as a person
“Be yourself,” advised Oscar Wilde. “Everyone else is already taken.” There’s only one Nelson Mandela, Elon Musk, Bill Gates. What you bring to your company is something unique. Celebrate who you are and the skill set, personality, tenacity and inspiration that you bring to the role.

BE POSITIVE

… even in the face of challenge
Klaus Schlichtherle, chief executive of Infinigate Group, the pan-European value-added distributor (VAD) of cybersecurity solutions, has more than 15 years’ management experience.

“I have made it a habit to first approach people and events positively,” he says, “at worst neutrally, and preferably not negatively at all. For me, this means aspiring to go through life with a constructive view on the world, not a destructive one. To be honest, I have to practice that every day. And I don't always succeed 100 percent,” he admits.

SHARE YOUR VISION

... to empower your staff
Leaders make things happen, achieve specific outcomes, to turn plans into reality. As Schlichtherle says: “I aspire to give people a vision, a mission and the purpose of their work — and I give them the support they need to focus on this.

“I give them an idea what the future of the company will look like, and this is the compass that steers them to focus on what they can do to help get us there. They know their own capacity, and their part in this, better than anyone. They figure out by themselves what they can do within this framework, in an entrepreneurial style, to achieve their goals. Yes, now and then mistakes are made, and they are allowed. They are sometimes even useful for the organisation to learn more quickly or effectively.”

TRUST YOUR TEAM

... to work towards your vision
Mutual trust a fine thing. Your team needs to know what success looks like, and you need to trust them to find their own route there.

“At Infinigate, we care about cybersecurity in order to help businesses be safer places, today and in the future. As a value-added distributor in cybersecurity, secure networking and secure cloud, we offer a platform for vendors and resellers in this domain.

“Security in cyberspace is our focus. Nothing less, nothing more. Our people know that. Managers and leaders don’t have to give everybody a detailed activity plan. That’s how I want the business to be running.”

CONTINUOUSLY SOLICIT FEEDBACK

… and create an environment that supports that
In a recent interview with The Financial Times, Eric Johnson, CEO of JSR, Japan’s leading semiconductor materials maker, described how honest dialogue with staff and stakeholders was key to helping him restructure the company.

No matter how accessible you think you are as a leader, your team could be withholding information, ideas and fears from you. Dina Denham Smith, founder and CEO of Cognitas, is an executive coach to leaders at top brands including Adobe, Netflix, PwC, Dropbox, and Stripe. “You can tell your team, ‘We all have blind spots, myself included’,” she says. “I need your help to see mine, and I want you to question and disagree with me if you think I am off-base.”

She advises leaders to consistently ask the team for their ideas — and assure them they don’t need to build an ironclad case for each one. Publicly acknowledge and thank independent voices that share a dissenting opinion, question your logic, or disagree with you.

LEAD FROM THE FRONT

… visibility and transparency matter
It’s a classic military leadership technique, and most civilians ascribe to it in one way or another.

“To me, a leader is someone who eats their own cooking,” says Sean Ferres, founder of Copy Millions Blueprint Program, a global movement of some 400 freelance copywriters and closers from 30 countries. The summit speaker believes in leadership from the front, getting in the trenches, and getting your hands dirty. “Because if you don't set the best possible example for your team, who will?”

SPEAK LAST

… and channel your wisdom
Author and business guru Simon Sinek says that great leaders speak last. Not to have the last word, but because it ensures that everyone feels heard. It also gives the CEO the benefit of understanding what everybody else thinks before giving their own opinion.

Use with care: Leaders need to set the tone and purpose of a meeting. Being the last one to speak doesn’t make you a leader — it’s a privilege of leadership.

Like the judge at a trial, the final word rests with you, not because of any supernatural ability but because of the authority conferred by your position. Corporate authority needs to be wielded with understanding, compassion and care. In a Tony Robbins podcast, Sinek related how Nelson Mandela learned to “speak last” by observing his parental guardian, Thembu King Jongintaba Dalindyebo. He would gather his men in a circle and wait until they had spoken before speaking himself.

Mandela later used this approach in his own meetings — and his biographer, Richard Stengel, quotes him as saying “Don’t enter the debate too early.” Stengel says Mandela would hear his colleagues out and summarise their points before offering his own views, subtly steering the decision in the direction he wanted.


This Star of the North African Banking Firmament Remains Relevant, and Ready to Adapt

Tunis International Bank has seen and celebrated 40 years of innovation, growth and success.

Tunis International Bank (TIB) was established in 1982, as the first banking corporation in Tunisia licensed to deal primarily with non-residents.

TIB is a private, non-resident commercial bank. Its main shareholder is Burgan Bank Kuwait, a subsidiary of one of the largest holding companies in the MENA region, Kuwait Projects Company (KIPCO).

[caption id="attachment_25280" align="aligncenter" width="900"] TIB Management Team[/caption]

TIB’s traditional and natural marketplace has been the Maghreb countries: the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. TIB has played a leading role attracting foreign investment and developing business and partnerships among the Gulf and Mediterranean countries, as well as Western Europe.

[caption id="attachment_25209" align="alignright" width="300"] Tunis: TIB Head Office[/caption]

The bank provides a comprehensive range of international financial services for corporates, financial institutions, governments and individuals. The offered services include foreign exchange, money market operations, international trade financing, private banking facilities, loan syndications, and commercial and investment banking.

The range of TIB products and services is continously reviewed, refined, and expanded to meet the customers needs.
TIB products are continously developped also through the synergies with co-members of the KIPCO group.

Tunis International Bank (TIB) is internationally and domestically recognised as an innovative institution, and remains dedicated to providing banking services of the highest standards. TIB proactively serves customers with solutions and products which are under constantly revision and individually tailored to meet their evolving needs.

TIB won widespread acknowledgement for the level of its professional services — including CFI.co’s award for Most Innovative Customer Service Bank (Tunisia) 2022.


Community, Commitment, Christian Values — and a Sincere Desire to be True to Modern Management

Lagos Business School holds its head high and stands firm on its core beliefs to create balanced, compassionate leaders of industry.

Nigeria’s Lagos Business School (LBS) is a community committed to creating and transmitting management skills and business knowledge.

The graduate school is part of the Pan-Atlantic University (PAU), a private institution owned by the non-profit Pan-Atlantic University Foundation (PAUF). LBS is guided by Christian values, coupled with business and management expertise relevant to Nigeria and the greater African continent. “We strive to be a world-class business school that will have a significant impact on the practice of management by creating and transmitting knowledge,” says dean Chris Ogbechie.

The practice of management, for LBS, means focusing on high-potential professionals, with an emphasis on ethics and management-as-a-service. Guiding values are professionalism, integrity, spirit of service, mutual respect, and care for the community.

[caption id="attachment_25315" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Prof: Chris Ogbechie[/caption]

Vision

When it comes to vision, Lagos Business School (LBS) “aims to be widely recognised as the business school with the greatest impact on the knowledge and practice of management in Africa”. Teaching, research, and engagements are aimed at developing responsible leaders with the skills and expertise required to help solve Africa’s business, economic, social, and institutional challenges.

LBS’s brand promise is to provide world-class management training matching that of the world’s top educational institutions. What follows is a link to the world’s best companies and managers — defining management development and leadership transformation among top-tiered Nigerian corporates and multinationals.

The Prelature of Opus Dei, an institution of the Catholic Church, guarantees that Christian vision and values underscore all teaching, publishing, and research.

Organisational Structure

The school is organised in functional units or directorates (academic and non-academic), each headed by a substantive director, who is assisted by managerial and administrative staff.

[caption id="attachment_25313" align="alignright" width="300"] Front view of LBS campus[/caption]

The LBS management board, chaired by the dean, is responsible for overall organisation, direction, and management — including strategic and operational decisions. The board reports to the University Management Council (UMC) via the dean.

The LBS faculty board, also chaired by Ogbechie, is responsible for student-related academic decisions. It addresses student discipline, curriculum and learning and admissions.

The International Advisory Board was established to create a mechanism for measuring effectiveness and to advise on future direction. The IESE-LBS Advisory Board guides LBS management on academic and management practices. It also provides on-campus learning visits for faculty and staff. The board reviews and advises LBS on administrative and programme activities.

Pan-Atlantic University (PAU) adopts governance mechanisms to ensure currency and relevance in academic and administrative pursuits.

[caption id="attachment_25314" align="alignright" width="300"] LBS foyer[/caption]

Lagos Business School offers academic and executive programmes, function-specific seminars, and customised executive sessions in management education. Its courses have been ranked among the best in Africa and the school has won the recognition of world-class organisations. Besides the quality of education, LBS stands out because of the emphasis on professional ethics and community service.

There is a wealth of experiences in the diverse faculty members and industry practitioners, and education at LBS is comprehensive. The main pedagogy is the case-study method and group work to ensure participant-centred learning.

Academic Programmes

LBS offers postgraduate masters’ degrees in business administration (MBA) in four formats: full-time, modular, executive, and modular executive. Graduates will be versed in business management, analytical thinking and problem-solving. Communications, global awareness, and interpersonal and ethical reasoning skills are also taught.

[caption id="attachment_25312" align="alignright" width="300"] The LBS classroom[/caption]

It also offers Doctorates in Business Administration (DBA), and academic programmes are complemented by an executive education unit. In line with LBS’s strategy and vision for Africa, the executive education programmes are designed to build holistic perspectives and integrate functional expertise into the general view of business.

There are executive programmes in open-enrolment and in-company (custom) formats across various management disciplines. They include globally recognised methodologies and workplace application.

Short, function-specific programmes cover various management disciplines, such as strategy and innovation, sports business management, agro-allied sector, operations management, marketing and sales management, leadership and personal effectiveness, human resource management, general management, business information systems, board effectiveness and governance, accounting, finance and economics.

The school has a commitment to advancing thought-leadership in leadership, sustainability, financial inclusion and entrepreneurship. These areas are woven into the fabric of the school, as well as the business environment and society.

Business ethics is the bedrock of Lagos Business School, and has been since its inception. Students and executive participants take sessions on business ethics. The aim is to arm graduates with the capacity to make sound moral judgments in their personal and professional lives. This is done through research creation, dissemination, and capacity building.

[caption id="attachment_25316" align="alignright" width="300"] LBS-cafeteria[/caption]

The LBS Sustainability Centre is the first of its kind in Nigeria. It is designed to refocus the relationship between businesses and stakeholders by creating responsible leaders. The centre works with organisations to help them incorporate sustainable practices in their operations. The development of innovative products and services can transform communities — and generate revenue.

This enables businesses to sustain livelihoods, reduce poverty, and contribute to national development and the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The LBS Sustainability Centre achieves this through stakeholder engagements and partnerships, research, and industry engagements.

The Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services (SIDFS) initiative was founded in 2015 when LBS began a work entitled Sustainable Business Models for Delivering Digital Financial Services to Lower Income, Unbanked Citizens of Nigeria. Through research, engagements and advocacy, the work created an evidence base for financial inclusion, and identified market-enabling policy interventions in Nigeria.

The LBS also developed a series of technical economic papers investigating the relationship between financial inclusion and vital macro-economic parameters, advocacy, and communication. The objective of SIDFS is to enhance the responsiveness of financial services providers to create and deliver value propositions that improve the economic well-being of Nigerians — with an emphasis on gender equality, poverty reduction and support for rural populations.

The Business Innovation Accelerator, a collaboration with the Bank of Industry, aims to provide entrepreneurship training and empowerment to young Nigerians across the six geopolitical zones.

This centre is intended to play an essential role in shaping Nigeria's Entrepreneurship Ecosystem to support and enhance technical, managerial, financial, and leadership skills. The accelerator has been set up to develop impact-driven entrepreneurs who use for-profit business models to solve problems and transform society in positive ways.

[caption id="attachment_25311" align="alignright" width="300"] LBS Auditorium[/caption]

LBS is a member of the <a href="https://landings.ie.edu/xlland-execed-es-global-advanced-management-program?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=6372&gclid=CjwKCAjwjMiiBhA4EiwAZe6jQwszjLsFiSrPJy209gF5fPXqYOXERxVOu41iERDdJypcXz3zVyYMdRoCzVwQAvD_BwE&accid=4737&kw=global%20advanced%20management%20program&matchtype=p&network=g&campaignid=17320072450&device=c&devicemodel=&loc_physical_ms=1005420&loc_interest_ms=&placement=&creative=599659534548&adposition=&random=11498297335450787697&utm_term=global%20advanced%20management%20program&utm_campaign=CAMP+-+EXE+-+AMP-+GLOBAL+AMP+-+ESP+-+ES+-+SEM+-+BRA&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=5632523758&hsa_cam=17320072450&hsa_grp=138637937442&hsa_ad=599659534548&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-323029953269&hsa_kw=global%20advanced%20management%20program&hsa_mt=p&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwjMiiBhA4EiwAZe6jQwszjLsFiSrPJy209gF5fPXqYOXERxVOu41iERDdJypcXz3zVyYMdRoCzVwQAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM), Association of MBA’s (AMBA), AACSB International, the Association of African Business Schools (AABS), the Global Business School Network (GBSN), the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Convention on Business Integrity (CBI).

Accreditation and Ranking

LBS is ISO 9001:2015 certified and accredited by two of the world’s leading accreditation bodies, the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

It is also accredited by the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC). LBS has been ranked among top global providers of executive education every year since 2007 by The Financial Times, and rated #1 in Africa and #41 in the world in the 2022 Executive Education Rankings. The school is listed among the top 100 global business schools on The Economist magazine’s 2021 MBA Ranking, and holds a Tier-One status on CEO Magazine’s 2022 Global MBA Ranking.

Qualified to a Fault, Steeped in Experience for his ‘Passion Subjects’, Blessed with Energy

Lagos Business School’s dean could not be better suited to his position.

Chris Ogbechie is Dean and Professor of Strategic Management at Lagos Business School — but his titles don’t stop there.

He is also Visiting Professor at Strathmore Business School in Nairobi, Kenya, and at the University of Kigali, in Rwanda. His academic career started with his own tertiary education — a first-class honours degree in mechanical engineering from Manchester University, an MBA from Manchester Business School, and a PhD in Business Administration from Brunel Business School — and has since been nourished by his vast experience in marketing, strategy, corporate governance, and sustainability.

Ogbechie has held senior posts in various companies and countries; he was head of marketing and sales at Nestle Nigeria and held international posts for the famous company in Malaysia, Singapore, and Switzerland. He has also worked as a consultant at Nigerian, Ghanaian and Kenyan firms.

Professor Ogbechie teaches strategy, sustainability and corporate governance at the Lagos Business School, and at the Strathmore Business School. He is the founding director of the Lagos Business School Sustainability Centre. His research interests are in strategy for turbulent environments, strategic leadership, board effectiveness, and corporate sustainability.

Professor Ogbechie has over 30 years’ experience in corporate board matters and has been involved with several start-ups in Nigeria. He was chairman of the board of directors at Diamond Bank Plc, and he sits on the board of several private and public companies, including National Salt Company of Nigeria Plc (NASCON), Health Partners Ltd, Hubmart Stores Ltd, Summit Healthcare Group, and Palton Morgan Holdings.

Chris Ogbechie has written for several publications on the subjects of financial services marketing, strategic management, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, and sustainability.

Lagos Business School holds its head high and stands firm on its core beliefs to create balanced, compassionate leaders of industry.

Nigeria’s Lagos Business School (LBS) is a community committed to creating and transmitting management skills and business knowledge.

The graduate school is part of the Pan-Atlantic University (PAU), a private institution owned by the non-profit Pan-Atlantic University Foundation (PAUF). LBS is guided by Christian values, coupled with business and management expertise relevant to Nigeria and the greater African continent. “We strive to be a world-class business school that will have a significant impact on the practice of management by creating and transmitting knowledge,” says dean Chris Ogbechie.

The practice of management, for LBS, means focusing on high-potential professionals, with an emphasis on ethics and management-as-a-service. Guiding values are professionalism, integrity, spirit of service, mutual respect, and care for the community.

[caption id="attachment_25315" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Prof: Chris Ogbechie[/caption]
Vision

When it comes to vision, Lagos Business School (LBS) “aims to be widely recognised as the business school with the greatest impact on the knowledge and practice of management in Africa”. Teaching, research, and engagements are aimed at developing responsible leaders with the skills and expertise required to help solve Africa’s business, economic, social, and institutional challenges.

LBS’s brand promise is to provide world-class management training matching that of the world’s top educational institutions. What follows is a link to the world’s best companies and managers — defining management development and leadership transformation among top-tiered Nigerian corporates and multinationals.

The Prelature of Opus Dei, an institution of the Catholic Church, guarantees that Christian vision and values underscore all teaching, publishing, and research.

Organisational Structure

The school is organised in functional units or directorates (academic and non-academic), each headed by a substantive director, who is assisted by managerial and administrative staff.

[caption id="attachment_25313" align="alignright" width="300"] Front view of LBS campus[/caption]
The LBS management board, chaired by the dean, is responsible for overall organisation, direction, and management — including strategic and operational decisions. The board reports to the University Management Council (UMC) via the dean.

The LBS faculty board, also chaired by Ogbechie, is responsible for student-related academic decisions. It addresses student discipline, curriculum and learning and admissions.

The International Advisory Board was established to create a mechanism for measuring effectiveness and to advise on future direction. The IESE-LBS Advisory Board guides LBS management on academic and management practices. It also provides on-campus learning visits for faculty and staff. The board reviews and advises LBS on administrative and programme activities.

Pan-Atlantic University (PAU) adopts governance mechanisms to ensure currency and relevance in academic and administrative pursuits.

[caption id="attachment_25314" align="alignright" width="300"] LBS foyer[/caption]
Lagos Business School offers academic and executive programmes, function-specific seminars, and customised executive sessions in management education. Its courses have been ranked among the best in Africa and the school has won the recognition of world-class organisations. Besides the quality of education, LBS stands out because of the emphasis on professional ethics and community service.

There is a wealth of experiences in the diverse faculty members and industry practitioners, and education at LBS is comprehensive. The main pedagogy is the case-study method and group work to ensure participant-centred learning.

Academic Programmes

LBS offers postgraduate masters’ degrees in business administration (MBA) in four formats: full-time, modular, executive, and modular executive. Graduates will be versed in business management, analytical thinking and problem-solving. Communications, global awareness, and interpersonal and ethical reasoning skills are also taught.

[caption id="attachment_25312" align="alignright" width="300"] The LBS classroom[/caption]
It also offers Doctorates in Business Administration (DBA), and academic programmes are complemented by an executive education unit. In line with LBS’s strategy and vision for Africa, the executive education programmes are designed to build holistic perspectives and integrate functional expertise into the general view of business.

There are executive programmes in open-enrolment and in-company (custom) formats across various management disciplines. They include globally recognised methodologies and workplace application.

Short, function-specific programmes cover various management disciplines, such as strategy and innovation, sports business management, agro-allied sector, operations management, marketing and sales management, leadership and personal effectiveness, human resource management, general management, business information systems, board effectiveness and governance, accounting, finance and economics.

The school has a commitment to advancing thought-leadership in leadership, sustainability, financial inclusion and entrepreneurship. These areas are woven into the fabric of the school, as well as the business environment and society.

Business ethics is the bedrock of Lagos Business School, and has been since its inception. Students and executive participants take sessions on business ethics. The aim is to arm graduates with the capacity to make sound moral judgments in their personal and professional lives. This is done through research creation, dissemination, and capacity building.

[caption id="attachment_25316" align="alignright" width="300"] LBS-cafeteria[/caption]
The LBS Sustainability Centre is the first of its kind in Nigeria. It is designed to refocus the relationship between businesses and stakeholders by creating responsible leaders. The centre works with organisations to help them incorporate sustainable practices in their operations. The development of innovative products and services can transform communities — and generate revenue.

This enables businesses to sustain livelihoods, reduce poverty, and contribute to national development and the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The LBS Sustainability Centre achieves this through stakeholder engagements and partnerships, research, and industry engagements.

The Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services (SIDFS) initiative was founded in 2015 when LBS began a work entitled Sustainable Business Models for Delivering Digital Financial Services to Lower Income, Unbanked Citizens of Nigeria. Through research, engagements and advocacy, the work created an evidence base for financial inclusion, and identified market-enabling policy interventions in Nigeria.

The LBS also developed a series of technical economic papers investigating the relationship between financial inclusion and vital macro-economic parameters, advocacy, and communication. The objective of SIDFS is to enhance the responsiveness of financial services providers to create and deliver value propositions that improve the economic well-being of Nigerians — with an emphasis on gender equality, poverty reduction and support for rural populations.

The Business Innovation Accelerator, a collaboration with the Bank of Industry, aims to provide entrepreneurship training and empowerment to young Nigerians across the six geopolitical zones.

This centre is intended to play an essential role in shaping Nigeria's Entrepreneurship Ecosystem to support and enhance technical, managerial, financial, and leadership skills. The accelerator has been set up to develop impact-driven entrepreneurs who use for-profit business models to solve problems and transform society in positive ways.

[caption id="attachment_25311" align="alignright" width="300"] LBS Auditorium[/caption]
LBS is a member of the Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM), Association of MBA’s (AMBA), AACSB International, the Association of African Business Schools (AABS), the Global Business School Network (GBSN), the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Convention on Business Integrity (CBI).

Accreditation and Ranking

LBS is ISO 9001:2015 certified and accredited by two of the world’s leading accreditation bodies, the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

It is also accredited by the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC). LBS has been ranked among top global providers of executive education every year since 2007 by The Financial Times, and rated #1 in Africa and #41 in the world in the 2022 Executive Education Rankings. The school is listed among the top 100 global business schools on The Economist magazine’s 2021 MBA Ranking, and holds a Tier-One status on CEO Magazine’s 2022 Global MBA Ranking.

Qualified to a Fault, Steeped in Experience for his ‘Passion Subjects’, Blessed with Energy

Lagos Business School’s dean could not be better suited to his position.

Chris Ogbechie is Dean and Professor of Strategic Management at Lagos Business School — but his titles don’t stop there.

He is also Visiting Professor at Strathmore Business School in Nairobi, Kenya, and at the University of Kigali, in Rwanda. His academic career started with his own tertiary education — a first-class honours degree in mechanical engineering from Manchester University, an MBA from Manchester Business School, and a PhD in Business Administration from Brunel Business School — and has since been nourished by his vast experience in marketing, strategy, corporate governance, and sustainability.

Ogbechie has held senior posts in various companies and countries; he was head of marketing and sales at Nestle Nigeria and held international posts for the famous company in Malaysia, Singapore, and Switzerland. He has also worked as a consultant at Nigerian, Ghanaian and Kenyan firms.

Professor Ogbechie teaches strategy, sustainability and corporate governance at the Lagos Business School, and at the Strathmore Business School. He is the founding director of the Lagos Business School Sustainability Centre. His research interests are in strategy for turbulent environments, strategic leadership, board effectiveness, and corporate sustainability.

Professor Ogbechie has over 30 years’ experience in corporate board matters and has been involved with several start-ups in Nigeria. He was chairman of the board of directors at Diamond Bank Plc, and he sits on the board of several private and public companies, including National Salt Company of Nigeria Plc (NASCON), Health Partners Ltd, Hubmart Stores Ltd, Summit Healthcare Group, and Palton Morgan Holdings.

Chris Ogbechie has written for several publications on the subjects of financial services marketing, strategic management, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, and sustainability.