By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate
Lagos INVESTADVOCATE)-A member of leading global bank, Citibank Nigeria Limited has hosted the annual Citi Financial Journalists Training (CFJT) to enhance professionalism amongst financial journalists in Nigeria, a statement from the lender said on Tuesday.
Citibank Nigeria said the training which took place on Wednesday September 24, 2014 at its Lagos office is in continuation of banks support for professional journalism.
This is coming on the heels of the banks 30th anniversary celebration in Nigeria, the event covered topics on financial markets as well as macroeconomics.
Akin Dawodu, the lender’s chief operating officer (COO) in Nigeria led the team of facilitators alongside Bayo Adeyemo, country treasurer of Citibank Nigeria. Others are Soni Irabor, managing director (MD) of SDI/Ruyi Communications and Yinka Olugbodi, chief executive officer (CEO) of Teambuilding Nigeria.
The event which is the second of the series hosted 23 journalists from major print and electronic media in Nigeria. The first edition was held the same time last year.
‘’The training provided an in-depth analysis of the financial markets and highlighted how economic trends and indicators should be interpreted. The forum also provided an excellent opportunity for interactive discussions between key media operators in the local market,’’ Citibank Nigeria said.
The global bank affirmed that the training aligns with its commitment towards capacity building among various stakeholders in the Nigerian economic space.
Topics covered during the training included understanding and interpreting economic reports, fixed income market & trading, writing business news for institutional investors and understanding key risks.
Also, Irabor a seasoned media practitioner facilitated a session on financial reporting in journalism and spoke extensively on the importance of ethics, while, Olugbodi of Teambuilding Nigeria administered several brainteasers which served to stimulate the minds of the participants in relation to the topics taught.
According to Dawodu, the Citi Financial Journalists Training speaks to one of Citi’s core strengths in the market. “Over the last 30 years, we have been at the forefront of providing financial markets training to industry colleagues, including our competitors, as well as regulators such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),’’ he said.
The COO at Citibank Nigeria affirmed the seminar is a natural progression to ensure that journalists who cover the financial sector have the core competence and knowledge base to appropriately report issues affecting the industry. ‘’As Citi celebrate 30 years of service to Nigeria, we remain committed to enabling progress through capacity building initiatives such as this,” he said.
On his part, Babajide Komolafe, a finance editor at Vanguard Newspaper and the national chairman of the Finance Correspondent’s Association of Nigeria (FICAN), commended Citibank Nigeria for their efforts at ensuring sound financial journalism practice in the country. “With increased focus on Nigeria from foreign investors, it has become essential that financial journalists are able to fully understand the economic factors at play in the marketplace,’’ Komolafe affirmed.
He said the training will enable financial reporters relay a true picture of events in a professional manner.
The FICAN national chairman further affirmed this sort of program is critical to the development and advancement of both financial journalism and the financial industry. ‘’It is our hope that Citi is able to expand this training to reach more journalists around the country,” he said.
At the end of the session, Adeyemo, Citi’s country treasurer reaffirmed the lender’s continued support towards capacity building initiatives in Nigeria and across the world. Certificates/plaques were also presented to participants.
The CFJT is an event sponsored by Citibank Nigeria where Citi gives back to the communities they serve through contributing towards professional journalism.
