East Africa risk managers start networking

East Africa’s risk management professionals have agreed to form a formidable institution to better offer world-class risk management, to protect organisations in the region and their assets from both internal and external risks. The unanimous decision was made when risk experts met at an annual conference organised by the Institute of Risk Management (IRM) regional group in Nairobi. The absence of risk management expertise from the region’s corporate scene has been blamed for rising cases of fraud in private and public sectors. Delegates were urged to enrol as members of the IRM regional group and pursue risk management qualifications to address the current state of risk management in the region, future trends and raise competency in managing risks by organisations or individuals. hide IRM regional group chair Dorothy Maseke, who is the group risk and compliance manager at ICEA Lion, said the state of play in risk management meant that the need to position Kenya as the hub of building risk management capacity in the region was timely and necessary. “Our plan of action has been to ensure sharing of risk management skills across different sectors by creating a platform for information exchange and capacity building. We seek to grow risk management talent from the bottom through various mentorship activities we have with the universities, as we build a pool of risk professionals,” she said. The Nairobi-based IRM regional group is affiliated to the IRM UK. The two have initiated talks with Strathmore University, through its Risk Management Centre (RMC), to set up a professional facility that will accelerate risk management capacity for the regional market. The RMC is established within the School of Finance and Applied Economics (SFAE) at Nairobi-based Strathmore University for the purpose of research, education and outreach regarding risk and disaster management. As a centre for risk and disaster management, RMC provides information, resources, expertise and networking opportunities to facilitate faculty and student exchange of research ideas, as well as providing services to the research community within SFAE, Strathmore University, industry and the wider community. “Building skills and capability in risk management is a vital investment in the future and Kenya is leading the region with a number of educational initiatives,” said Dr John Olukuru, RMC director, Strathmore University. Ian Livsey, chief executive, IRM UK said effective risk management in the face of rapid external and internal change continues to be one of the key challenges facing organisations across the world. “To address this challenge we need competent risk professionals, widespread awareness of risk and opportunity, and a healthy risk culture within organisations and society. IRM has an important role in supporting the risk profession by providing education, training and networking events like this to the highest international standards,” he said. The conference, titled ‘Kenya as the Hub of Building Risk Management Capacity within the Region’, also identified social media as the ‘new reputational risk’ that needs to be tackled and adequately addressed. “This is given to the increasing demand by industry and the wider society for risk professionals to lead and advise risk,” said Ms Maseke. She said the group seeks to give risk management professionals a voice on emerging issues and empower them to drive positive change. “We embrace the need for mainstreaming of risk management discussion as we challenge risk professionals to play their role as stakeholders in policy shaping. This, we believe, is what will drive sustainable development across regional economies.” She said financial sector regulators in the region supported the growth of risk management by anchoring it in prudential regulations. “The risk manager’s role in both the public and private sector is therefore well defined and supported by various governance requirements adopted by the country. Having seen a springboard of growth over the past year, we are encouraged by the level of enthusiasm exhibited by risk professionals who have attended our regional group meetings,” added Ms Maseke. Other areas tackled during the conference were the role of partnerships between regulators and professional associations, risk management in practice within the public sector and how to protect corporate reputation in a digital world. The conference comes days after certified financial analysts in Kenya called for improvement in corporate governance systems in the country, as part of reducing reputational risks that companies are facing when employees engage in internal fraud. “The lapses in corporate governance systems in some of Kenya’s public listed companies could deter investors from investing in listed securities. Ensuring the boards and management of public listed companies know and discharge their duty to their shareholders is key in restoring investor confidence. The recent actions by the Capital Markets Authority to hold former board directors of public listed companies accountable for their actions, are a step in the right direction,” said Eleanor Kigen, president of the CFA Society of East Africa. She added: “In order to restore confidence, all capital markets participants need to instil ethics as the cornerstone of their dealings with clients.” Last month, former Uchumi Supermarkets managing director Jonathan Ciano was fined $185,000 by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) for doctoring accounts to cheat investors and failing to disclose that his wife was one of the main suppliers to the chain. He has also been banned from holding senior positions in any company, which is under CMA rules for a period of five years. The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya is also set to suspend him. The IRM regional group is the first professional body in the region to pool risk management experts. It pulls together risk management professionals and encourages them to enhance their strategic influence in the institutions within which they work. It seeks to give risk management professionals a voice on emerging issues and empower them to drive positive change.

East Africa risk managers start networking

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