FirstBank wins Gold for Greatest Company College in Social & Local weather Change Affect
FirstBank, the West African premier {bank} and {financial} inclusion companies supplier, is thrilled to announce that its Company College, FirstAcademy, has been awarded the Gold Award for Greatest Company College in Social & Local weather Change on the International Council of Company Universities (GlobalCCU) Awards 2025.
This extremely acclaimed award recognises FirstAcademy’s excellent dedication to driving social and local weather change studying initiatives, aligning its studying and improvement applications with inside stakeholder wants, and selling Company Social Duty (CSR).
The GlobalCCU Awards is a prestigious, biannual recognition of excellence in company universities, setting the best normal for the business.
With a wealthy 12-year historical past relationship again to its inaugural ceremony in Paris in 2013, the awards have persistently honoured excellent Company Universities, studying and improvement buildings worldwide. The GlobalCCU Awards have a good time establishments that create outstanding worth for folks, companies, society, and the planet.
FirstBank’s FirstAcademy exemplifies this mission by incomes the Gold Award for Greatest Company College in Social & Local weather Change on the 2025 ceremony in Paris, France. This distinction displays FirstAcademy’s dedication to fostering sustainability and environmental accountability; growing impactful studying initiatives that transcend conventional company coaching, with broader societal targets; integrating local weather motion into its portfolio and operations; increasing local weather finance choices; and growing a local weather motion capacity-building coaching program.
FirstAcademy was inaugurated in 2012 because the {Bank}’s designated company academy, designed to supply structured expertise improvement, data administration, and tradition change initiatives. One main goal of the academy is to equip workers with the requisite data and expertise required to ship on the {Bank}’s strategic aspirations and to thrive in an ever-evolving work atmosphere whereas contributing to social and environmental accountability.
In response to the Founder and Chairman of the GlobalCCU Awards, Annick Renaud-Coulon, “FirstAcademy is an excellent Company College that’s clearly the Greatest Company College globally for driving social and local weather change studying initiatives.”
Congratulating FirstAcademy, the Founder and Chairman of the GlobalCCU Awards, Annick Renaud-Coulon, mentioned, “FirstAcademy is a really mature Company College which demonstrates a powerful alignment with FirstBank’s imaginative and prescient of accountable banking and sustainable improvement, with clear assist from senior management and a governance mannequin that strategically connects studying to enterprise priorities. Congratulations to FirstAcademy for setting a visionary normal in advancing significant social and local weather change influence via studying and inclusive capability constructing!”
Within the phrases of Olayinka Ijabiyi, the Performing Group Head, Advertising and Company Communications, FirstBank, “We’re delighted to obtain this worldwide recognition for our efforts in selling social accountability and local weather motion. This award serves as a testomony to our perception that companies is usually a power for good, driving transformation that extends past revenue to create sustainable and equitable futures for all. FirstAcademy’s applications haven’t solely enhanced worker expertise but additionally contributed to the well-being of society and the atmosphere.”
As FirstBank’s FirstAcademy continues to bridge the hole between company initiatives and group wants, it units a number one instance for company universities across the globe, inspiring others to observe go well with within the quest for significant change.
About FirstBank
First {Bank} of Nigeria Restricted, “FirstBank”, established in 1894, is the premier {bank} in West Africa, a number one {financial} inclusion companies supplier in Africa, and a digital banking big.
FirstBank’s worldwide footprints minimize throughout three continents ─ Africa, Europe, and Asia, with FirstBank UK Restricted in London and Paris; FirstBank within the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone; FBNBank in Senegal; and a FirstBank Consultant Workplace in Beijing, China. All of the subsidiary banks are totally registered by their respective Central Banks to supply full banking companies.
Apart from offering home banking companies, the subsidiaries additionally interact in worldwide cross-border transactions with FirstBank’s non-Nigerian subsidiaries, and the consultant places of work in Paris and China facilitate commerce flows from Asia and Europe into Nigeria and different African international locations.
For over 13 many years, FirstBank has constructed an excellent status for stable relationships, good company governance, and a powerful liquidity place, and has been on the forefront of selling digital cost within the nation with over 13 million playing cards issued to prospects (the primary {bank} to attain such a milestone in Nigeria). FirstBank has continued to make vital investments in know-how, innovation, and transformation, and its cashless transaction drive has been steadily accentuated with nearly over 25 million energetic FirstBank prospects signed up on digital channels, together with the USSD Fast Banking service via the nationally famend *894# Banking code.
With over 43 million buyer accounts (together with digital wallets) unfold throughout Nigeria, UK, and sub-Saharan Africa, the {Bank} supplies a complete vary of retail and wholesale {financial} companies via greater than 820 enterprise places of work and over 280,000 agent places unfold throughout 772 out of the 774 Native Authorities Areas in Nigeria.
Along with banking options and companies, FirstBank supplies pension fund custody companies in Nigeria via First Pension Custodian Nigeria Restricted and nominee and related companies via First Nominees Nigeria Restricted.
FirstBank’s dedication to Variety is proven in its insurance policies, partnerships and initiatives similar to its staff’ ratio of feminine to male (about 41%:59%; and 37% ladies in administration roles) in addition to the FirstBank Girls Community, an initiative that seeks to deal with the gender hole and improve the participation of ladies in any respect ranges inside the organisation. As well as, the {Bank}’s membership of the UN Girls is an affirmation of a deliberate coverage that’s per UN Girls’s Girls’s Empowerment Rules (WEPs) ─ Equal Alternative, Inclusion, and Non-discrimination.
For six consecutive years (2011 – 2016), FirstBank was named “Most Useful {Bank} Model in Nigeria” by the globally famend The Banker Journal of the {Financial} Occasions Group and “Greatest Retail {Bank} in Nigeria” eight occasions in a row, 2011 – 2018, by the Asian Banker Worldwide Excellence in Retail {Financial} Companies Awards.
Considerably, FirstBank’s International Credit score Ranking was A+ with a optimistic outlook whereas rankings by Fitch and Commonplace & Poor’s had been A (nga) and ngBBB+ respectively, each with Secure outlooks as at September 2023. FirstBank maintained the identical stage of worldwide credit score rankings because the sovereign, a milestone that was achieved in 2022 for the primary time since 2015.
In 2024, FirstBank obtained notable worldwide awards and accolades. A few of these embody Nigeria’s Greatest {Bank} for ESG 2024 and Nigeria’s Greatest {Bank} for Corporates 2024 each awarded by Euromoney Awards for Excellence; Greatest SME {Bank} in Africa and in Nigeria by The Asian Banker International Awards; Greatest Non-public {Bank} in Nigeria and Greatest Non-public {Bank} for Sustainable Investing in Africa by International Finance Awards; Greatest Company {Bank} in Nigeria 2024, Greatest CSR {Bank} in Nigeria 2024, Greatest Retail {Bank} in Nigeria 2024, Greatest SME {Bank} in Nigeria 2024 and Greatest Non-public {Bank} in Nigeria 2024 all awarded by the International Banking and Finance Awards.
FirstBank has continued to achieve huge acclaim on the worldwide stage with a number of worldwide awards and recognitions obtained up to now in 2025 which incorporates Greatest SME {Bank} in Nigeria 2025 and Greatest SME {Bank} in Africa 2025 by The Asian Banker; Greatest Non-public {Bank} in Nigeria 2025 and Greatest Non-public {Bank} for Sustainable Investing in Africa 2025 by International Finance Awards; SME Financier of the 12 months in Nigeria 2025 by The Digital Banker International SME Banking Innovation Awards; Greatest Retail {Bank} in Nigeria 2025 and Greatest {Bank} for Empowering Girls Entrepreneurs in Nigeria 2025 all by The Annual International Economics Awards.
Our imaginative and prescient is “To be Africa’s {Bank} of first alternative,” and our mission is “To stay true to our identify by offering the very best {financial} companies attainable”. This dedication is anchored on our core values of EPIC – Entrepreneurship, Professionalism, Innovation, and Buyer-Centricity. Our strategic ambition is “To ship accelerated development in profitability via customer-led innovation and disciplined execution,” and our model promise is at all times to ship the last word “gold normal” of worth and excellence to place You First in each respect.
