The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday warned Nigerians to disregard a fake recruitment portal purportedly floated by the bank.
In a statement, CBN Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, said the central bank was currently not engaged in any general recruitment exercise.
This was just as the Deputy Director, Development Finance Department, and Head of Financial Inclusion, CBN, Paul Oluikpe, yesterday, called for more participation by both the public and private sectors in financing green projects.
Oluikpe, made this call while speaking during a session at the ongoing IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings where he spoke on Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) with the theme, 'Scaling Public-Private Cooperation to Advance Inclusive Green Finance.'
The fake website purportedly lured unsuspecting applicants into divulging sensitive information about their bank Verification Number (BVN) among others and rejected physical disabilities.
However, the CBN spokesman said the bank would, "never request for the BVN of intending applicants nor discriminate against persons with physical disabilities."
The apex bank, therefore, warned members of the public to be wary of fraudulent recruitment agents bent on taking advantage of the employment challenge to defraud eligible applicants, particularly young graduates.
AbdulMumin said the bank's attention had been drawn to a "fake recruitment portal inviting 'eligible' members of the public to submit applications in an exercise that will commence soon.
"The fraudulent website lists requirements for eligibility to include, among other qualifications, the possession of a Bank Verification Number (BVN).
"The portal goes on to state that those with physical disabilities are not eligible to apply."
He said, "For the avoidance of doubt, the CBN is currently not carrying out any general recruitment exercise and will never request for the BVN of intending applicants nor discriminate against persons with physical disabilities.
"Accordingly, members of the public are hereby warned to be wary of fraudulent recruitment agents bent on taking advantage of the employment challenge to defraud eligible applicants, particularly young graduates. Please be guided accordingly."
Meanwhile, Oluikpe has called for more participation by both the public and private sectors in financing green projects.
Oluikpe noted that it was critical to invest in projects that mitigate climate change, noting that it was a global challenge that requires innovation, adaptation and transitioning from current practices. He also stressed that public sector, policies, and regulations should be more skewed toward promoting innovative products and services in green finance/sustainable finance.
He said: "Climate change is a global challenge, requiring innovation, adaptation and transitioning from current practices which have proven unsustainable, to sustainable approaches to delivering value, especially for vulnerable groups such as MSMEs, women, youth, internally displaced people, rural areas and other target groups.
"Sustainable finance can play a role in this transition, and to do so, innovation is imperative. Sustainable finance needs to be democratised, and access enhanced and this requires catalysing finance, and the private sector has proven adept at this.
"Impact assessment, standardisation and quality are key issues in sustainable finance requiring private sector involvement and orientation.
"In concert with the public sector, the private sector can play a veritable role in mobilising finance and channelling interventions to the segments most at need. The benefits of this dialogue today would probably lie in the areas of conceptualising entry points for both domains of stakeholders (public/private)."
He added: "For the public sector, policies and regulations which unfreeze rigidities in the operating space could be key considerations whilst the private sector would essentially explore innovative products and services in green finance/sustainable finance that would close the gaps evident in the segments most in need.
"Together, both stakeholders could begin to see areas of convergence, mutuality and complementarity in advancing the objectives of green finance."
The AFI Inclusive Green Finance Working Group is a group of policymakers with technical experience and knowledge regarding IGF policies and initiatives from the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) member institutions to discuss and generate practical recommendations, lessons and new knowledge to advance sustainable financial inclusion.
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In 2017, at Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt AFI Member countries committed to exploring the linkages between Financial Inclusion, Climate Change, and Green Finance and about ways in which it can be strengthened through peer learning and knowledge sharing on these interconnected policy areas. Consequently, in 2019 at the GPF in Rwanda, the Inclusive Green Finance Working Group was established and convened. Currently, it has 68 member institutions from 58 countries, and we have developed 13 knowledge products and 11 policy changes over the course of our work since inception in 2019.
Its objectives include the creation of an enabling environment for inclusive green finance amongst its members; creation of a common understanding of the topic of inclusive green finance by sharing experiences and building a taxonomy of inclusive green finance policies and regulations; establishing linkages and provide inputs, where appropriate, to global networks working in the area of green finance and sustainable financial inclusion, seeking to benefit from and contribute to the growing body of knowledge and best practice in this area, among others.
