Experts Call For Enterprise Risk Mgt To Boost Nigeria’s Business Resilience

Risk professionals and executives have warned that weak risk culture and policy instability are undermining Nigeria’s business resilience, emphasizing the critical role of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) in ensuring sustainable growth across sectors.

The experts noted that fragmented risk approaches and regulatory misalignment expose firms to disruptions, urging businesses to integrate ERM into decision-making and strategy for long-term stability.
Speaking at a high-level seminar hosted by Kreston Pedabo in Lagos on Tuesday, panellists said most Nigerian firms remain exposed to shocks due to a fragmented approach to risk and poor alignment between regulation and business realities. Themed “Spreading Business Resilience: Integrating Enterprise Risk Management for Sustainable Growth,” the hybrid event featured regulators, academics, and private sector leaders.

Participants said despite growing awareness, ERM is still widely treated as a box-ticking exercise in Nigeria, rather than a framework for anticipating, responding to, and recovering from disruptions.
Head of Audit, Risk & Internal Control at Lafarge Africa Plc, Olanike Olakanle, described the current situation as worrying. “Many organisations have the documents, but ERM is not embedded in how decisions are made. There’s little linkage between strategy and risk management, and this gap continues to expose businesses to avoidable crisis,” she said.

She added that without predictive tools like Artificial Intelligence, combined with a robust governance culture, businesses will remain reactive and slow to adapt. “Technology alone won’t save you. Risk culture must be internalised across all levels of the organisation,” she added.

Echoing her views, executive director at Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Biyi Olagbami, said regulatory instability and poor risk ownership were harming business confidence. “Knee-jerk changes to policies do more harm than good. We need stability, we need foresight. When regulation doesn’t align with business value, the result is uncertainty,” he said.

Olagbami called for businesses to reframe risk planning as an enabler, not a barrier. “Risk management should be present at the strategy table, not just in audit reports,” he noted.

Dr. Joseph Atatsi, Academic Director at Wake Forest University and Senior Regulator at the U.S. SEC, said the Nigerian market could not afford to keep ignoring global risk trends. “We’re in an era of interconnected risks — from cyber disruptions to climate shocks. Nigerian companies must build internal capacity and systems that can anticipate and withstand global volatility.”

Managing partner of Kreston Pedabo, Ajibade Fashina, said a major obstacle to resilience is the outdated view of ERM as merely a compliance task. “The firms that will lead in the next decade are those who understand that risk is not just a threat — it’s a lens through which to see opportunities,” he said.

While commending recent regulatory efforts, including the SEC’s risk-based supervision initiatives, the panellists insisted that implementation remained a challenge due to lack of coordination, inadequate data, and inconsistent political will.

Head of Enterprise Risk Management at Seplat Energy Plc, Abiola Ogunleye, said businesses must build industry-specific frameworks and ensure consistent maturity across departments. “ERM cannot live in silos. It has to be part of culture, structure, and strategy. Only then can it deliver value.”

The experts urged both the public and private sectors to adopt a long-term view of resilience, calling for stronger collaboration, investment in data-driven tools, and a more stable policy environment.

They concluded that if Nigeria hopes to attract sustainable investment and improve competitiveness, risk must become central to the national business narrative — not an afterthought.