Since its establishment 40 years ago, FITC, the world-class innovation-led and technology-driven knowledge institute has been delivering on its mandate of developing and building the capabilities of resources in the financial services and other sectors of the economy, enabling people and organizations to excel, and even more so with technological innovations.

The visionary organization has been on a remarkable transformation journey, embracing an agile and new way of thinking which has further catalysed their transformative work specifically in the last two years and consequently positioning the organization as leaders in the knowledge sector, earning them various global awards and recognition. This was made known at a press briefing on the organization’s 40^th anniversary which was held in Lagos recently.

Speaking to journalists at the session, the Managing Director/CEO, FITC, Chizor Malize stated that driven by the need for ingenuity and market consolidation, FITC had remained an agile and dynamic organization, developing and launching its innovative and robust digital platforms to deliver uninterrupted knowledge solutions to its diverse stakeholders reaching over 200,000 participants across 3,500 organizations, from 6 continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, NorthAmerica, South America, and Oceania.

“FITC is 40 this year and as an innovation-led organisation, we have re-created our platforms and processes, launching our new FITC Digital Learning Portfolio among others to meet the current needs of our stakeholders while making learning possible from anywhere. With a continental focus, our innovative e-Learning programmes permeated several countries of Africa and top corporate organizations, impacting and shaping thoughts amongst C-Suite Executives, as well as Senior and Mid-Level Leadership supporting and strengthening skills across the financial service sector and other sectors of the economy,’’ she said.

Speaking further, Malize noted that through the organization’s innovation mindset, deep market insight and world-class approach to programme design thinking, their learning solutions were redesigned by infusing their programme curriculum with more relevant content that address the future of work and the future need of businesses. She noted that the institute is now focused on new product development, expansion into new markets, business growth through digital transformation and operational restructuring, as well as people engagement and excellent service delivery.

“Beyond technology, we also applied the principles of agility across our entire organization from process innovation, new programme development, customer relationship management, and consumer insight analytics. We responded swiftly to our stakeholders learning and knowledge needs, increased our speed of execution with remarkable improvement in our productivity and service delivery leveraging technology and innovative knowledge solutions” She noted.

It would be recalled that FITC, under its re-engineered Insight & Policy Advocacy portfolio, FITC had hosted some of Africa’s largest conferences; ThinkNnovation Cybersecurity Conference, the Employee Experience & Engagement (E3) Conference, and the TechNovate FINTECH Conference using its bespoke virtual conferencing platform called the Convena, a 5000-attendee capacity platform with fascinating features aimed at giving participants the ultimate virtual conferencing experience. The features include Log-in and onboarding, virtual sessions, session screening and live Q&As, chat rooms, event newsfeeds, contests and marketing, advertising and sponsors booths among other innovative features. The FITC Covena platform has continued to receive glowing reviews from the organization’s participants, partners board members and other critical stakeholders, and has positioned FITC as the leader in virtual conferencing.

In celebrating its 40th anniversary milestone, Malize disclosed the organization has launched a special line-up of anniversary initiatives aimed at impacting their immediate community, the youth segment, the Financial Service Sector, and other sectors of the economy.

“To celebrate this important milestone, we launched the FITC Sustainability Initiative with Slum2SchoolAfrica, a volunteer-driven development organization, transforming society by empowering underserved children in slums and remote communities with quality education, entrepreneurial skills, technology, and psychosocial support to enable them to realize their full potential. We have partnered with this transformational organization, to empower children and other beneficiaries leveraging on our institution’s specialty in mentorship, as well as building and developing capacity. We have so far mentored hundreds of children since the partnership took off in August,” Malize noted.

As part of the anniversary activities, the organization is also set to launch the maiden edition of the FITC Awards for Excellence (FAFE)in November 2021. The Award initiative is aimed at recognizing individuals and organizations who have contributed to the development of the Financial Services Sector, through innovative service offerings and initiatives around service excellence, product innovation, employee engagement, regulatory excellence, sustainability and impact.

Similarly, on the FITC Hackathon Challenge targeted at the youth segment, and which is also set to launch this quarter, Malize noted that as part of the organization’s celebratory activities and in line with their unwavering commitment to continuously promote innovative thinking that could further enhance growth and development in Africa, FITC will be launching the FITC hackathon challenge. “We will be calling on teams, young experts, problem solvers, creative thinkers, specialists in various fields, programmers, graphic and online designers to participate in a 2-week collaborative innovative process, to create tech and non-tech solutions to some of the most pressing needs in Africa,’’ Malize stated.

For the grand finale, the organization will host a special anniversary summit which will be followed by a cocktail and dinner event in December.

FITC was established in 1981 as a limited by guarantee non-profit professional service organisation, based on the Company’s Act of 1968. It was created in response to the recommendations of the Pius Okigbo Committee, which was set up by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1976 to review the financial service system.

Under the direct supervision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the Nigerian Bankers’ Committee, FITC has since remained committed to the advancement in knowledge content that is creatively designed to reinforce the Nigerian financial system.

Notwithstanding its remarkable accomplishments specifically across the organization’s six strategic pillars of product, process, platform, people, performance and positioning, speaking on the future of the organization, Malize stated that in line with the institution’s corporate strategic blueprint and 5-year plan (2020-2024), as well as its new vision to build a world-class, innovation-led and technology-driven knowledge organization, FITC is poised to accomplish even much more in the years to come. “To achieve this, we have created a vision that meant that for us to remain relevant and ahead, we must be technology-driven, and we must be an extremely innovative organization. These we are already implementing to ensure sustainable business performance, success and growth,” Malize said.

The Premier knowledge Institution has continuously equipped professionals in the Nigerian Financial Service Sector and other sectors for 40 years with industry-relevant knowledge, which has helped professionals in navigating and advancing their careers while building on its member firm’s success through its clear vision, strong corporate values, and its culture of excellence.

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