By Uzoma Nwagba, CEO the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP)
“If you must eat a frog, eat a fat and juicy one.” — Anonymous
There is something beautifully dangerous about starting from nothing. Yes, it is hard work to build an entire government bank from scratch, in public, for a population rightly agitating for results. But if we must do this, we had better go hard or go home.
We decided early that our new institution would not inherit the old reflexes of the public sector. Somebody must rewrite the rules. That conviction led us to five unconventional choices:
- Zero Paper. A 100% digital organisation. No printer in the CREDICORP building. Period.
- 100% AI-native institution. Staff do not perform tasks they can prompt computers to do faster and better. Basic usage of artificial intelligence (AI) is a requirement—and training—to be at CREDICORP.
- Zero Petrol. 100% Electric Vehicles
- A solar-powered office
- Daily 360-degree performance reviews via digital coins (“CrediCoins”) issued daily by staff to any colleagues, tied to visible work.
These aren’t gestures. They are our operating system. This is how 25 people (median age: 34)—plus nine youth corpers—have deployed over ₦30 billion in life-enhancing credit in months, reaching almost 200,000 Nigerians and enabling 31 financial institutions to lend more cheaply and confidently. When you’re shaping how millions access personal credit, you cannot afford waste—of time, energy or talent. Every system is a chance to reinvent.
Replacing Paper Mazes with 100% Digital Workflows
Inside CREDICORP, paper gives way to e-ink tablets. We simply do not print. We believe most of the ₦18.3 billion spent on paper and related items across government in 2023 is avoidable. And the speed, traceability, disaster recovery, and data-driven decisions of full digitization are priceless. Even in government. Especially in government.
In many public offices, files migrate like rumours: appearing, disappearing, resurfacing. Approvals depend on availability and chance. Yet citizens wait endlessly for government services, and organisational history and context are wiped out in lost or dumped files.
We tried the opposite. Every request — from products to procurement to travel — begins in our workflow systems. Once submitted, the task is time-stamped and visible to all concerned. Every action or comment leaves a footprint. Every delay has a public name, including mine. I commit to a 24-hour turnaround anywhere I am, and my response time is a KPI for my EA, Elizabeth. “MD is not on seat” doesn’t exist; my seat is my tablet.
Where an external party insists on a physical copy, there is a lonely printer in the gateman’s house. This is not just about efficiency. It is about dignity, hoping Nigerians get more institutions that operate with an extra urgency to advance their lives.
Going Green: A Building on Solar Power
Even if you enjoy the noise of generators, nobody enjoys paying for diesel. So we eliminated them: the growl, fumes, and fatigue. Though we originally purchased a generator for backup power, we have mostly phased out the need for it.
A future-forward institution relying on diesel would be a contradiction. So our headquarters is fully solar-powered — quiet, clean, uninterrupted — thanks to our neighbour and partner, the DARES project of the REA. When we design clean energy credit products, we speak from practice.
It’s Electric. Forever. No Petrol Stations.
Our third decision drew the most questions: CREDICORP would be the first government institution with 100% EVs in its operations. No petrol vouchers. No exceptions. Understandable worries came: “What if we can’t find a charging point?” “What if we travel to a city with no infrastructure?” All valid—and all part of the point. Someone must live the future before it becomes convenient. We are happy to go first and show a new way.
Today, it is a pride to our staff—and a 62% cost saving.
AI as the Default, Not the Exception
Our fourth decision was cultural: humans shouldn’t perform tasks machines do better. Thriving at CREDICORP requires fluency in Microsoft CoPilot, ChatGPT or Gemini—supported by frequent masterclasses on crafting prompts to fully unlock the extra intelligence of this modern technology.
Our brilliant staff did not overcome life’s obstacles to spend days drafting memos, crunching routine numbers, or reconciling invoices. AI frees them for higher-order thinking and work that shifts lives. If AI can draft, analyse, summarise, visualise, or simulate, then AI handles the mechanical; humans handle the meaningful.
Our workforce is diverse, with backgrounds from the World Bank, CBN, DFIs like BOI and DBN, major banks, the Presidency, firms like Agusto & Co., Meristem, Microsoft, Pfizer, consulting, private equity, Islamic finance, legal advisory, retail credit, and staff who relocated from the USA. We are unified by our levels of efficiency and a collegial culture.
Accountability in Real Time
Our fifth choice made performance a daily habit, not just an annual ritual. Staff receive biweekly digital coins to award colleagues daily the moment they see real value, e.g. a sharp analysis, solving a pain point, designing an effective system, a presentation that sparks insight, or seamless event execution.
Each coin links to a core value and includes a clear reason. The dashboard is visible to all, so work—and workers pushing the institution forward—are visible. Excellence rises as politics diminishes.
At the end of each quarter, the highest earner serves as “MD for a Day,” running executive reviews, taking decisions, and experiencing the weight of leadership. And we keep refining this system of meritocracy.
A Blank Canvas Is Harder—but a Rare Gift
Every new institution begins with nothing. That “nothing” can become an excuse or it can become a rare freedom to be historic in every way.
We chose freedom to create a universe we would love to see exist, in government (a world typically consigned to mediocrity). We believe our best examples, our oases of sanity, can—and should—be in government. We are taking that bet. And in the words of our national pledge: so help [us], God.
