Nigeria’s Technology-Driven Rating Agency, DataPro Limited, has emphasised the need to accelerate the credit culture as a way of promoting Nigeria’s economic growth.
In his presentation at the 2nd edition of its Annual Media Training program tagged “Credit Rating and Investigative Journalism”, DataPro Chief Operating Officer, Prince Oladele Adeoye, said the Nigerian economy will grow faster if more MSMEs have better access to credit and more importantly know what to do to access the capital market.
Adeoye told the cross section of journalists that Credit Rating Agencies, with their unique role and expertise, are foundational to the stability of the financial markets.
According to him, their purpose extends beyond just determining the creditworthiness of an entity – they also provide valuable insights into market trends and potential investment risks. “Credit Rating Agencies exert considerable influence over macroeconomic conditions, impacting financial markets’ efficiency, stability, and integrity,” he added.
Explaining further, Adeoye, who is also the Chief Credit Officer of the company said; the rating process is not an Audit exercise but the analysis of the financial, business, management, regulatory and sustainability of an entity in order to determine its credit worthiness.
“Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) evaluate and rate the creditworthiness of debt securities and their issuers, including companies and countries.
“They assign credit risk ratings to such entities based on quantitative and qualitative analyses. The ratings show the likelihood of a borrower to default or repay a loan with interest.
“Their macroeconomic relevance is broad-spanning, permeating aspects such as Bonds, Commercial Paper (CP), State & Sovereign debt, corporate lending, Investment decisions, and Policy-making,” he said.
Beyond equities, shares and stockholders, Adeoye said the debt subsector of the capital market provides a very veritable, viable and alternative funding channel for entrepreneurs and business owners.
The DataPro chief rating officer opined that the media should go beyond its scope and engage in the promotion of good corporate governance, ethical values and conduct that can positively impact business life and operations.
He urged the media to provide timely and accurate information that can save the integrity of Nigeria’s financial markets through investigative journalism.
He went further by emphasizing the role of the media in credit rating decisions, which includes; “objectivity, market research, independence, surveillance, business analytics, reasons behind the figures and investigative Journalism.”
