E-Financial
Why Central Banks Need to Take Human Rights More Seriously
Many central banks are rethinking their approach to the environmental and social impact of their operations.
According to Danny Bradlow, SARCHI Professor of International Development Law and African Economic Relations, University of Pretoria, this is because their decisions can affect access to housing, healthcare, education, work, to adequate food and water and the security of their pensions.
At the One Planet summit in Paris two years ago, a network of central banks and supervisors was set up with the main focus on climate change. Now with 40 members from five continents, the network is drawn to pay more attention to other environmental and social considerations.
The precise mandates of central banks vary. But one thing they all have in common is responsibility for maintaining price stability. Their primary policy tools for achieving this objective are interest rates, the capital and reserve requirements for banks, and trading debt instruments in financial markets.
Bradlow said that Central banks also act as a lender of last resort to the banking system or more generally to the financial sector.
They regulate and supervise the activities of banks and other financial institutions. They manage the country’s payment system, maintain financial stability and manage the country’s foreign exchange reserves. In some countries, the central bank can be given additional responsibilities such as promoting development finance or financial inclusion.
To fully understand the risk that climate poses to price and financial stability, central banks need to consider how changing weather patterns will affect a number of variables. These include food production, migration patterns, and people’s access to food, water, housing, and jobs, and how these, in turn, influence aggregate demand, credit allocation, inflation and government deficits.
In other words, as I explain in more detail in this article, central bankers are being inexorably pushed to reconsider the relationship between central banking and human rights.
The connections
According to Bradlow, the mandates, powers, and governance arrangements of all central banks are established by law. They must comply with all the applicable law including the constitutional and international legal obligations of their home states. In principle this means that central banks are bound by the international human rights commitments of their sovereigns.
Historically, central banks have been able to avoid dealing with human rights issues. This is because the political leadership determines the price stability goal for the economy and then lets the central bank decide how to meet this inflation objective.
This arrangement suggests that the central bank’s independence is limited to the technical issues relevant to achieving the goal set by the government. In addition, it assumes, at least implicitly, that the social and environmental implications of the country’s monetary and financial goals are the government’s responsibility.
However, in reality central banking is not a purely technical function. For example, the social and environmental impact of its decision to change interest rates will vary depending on how it implements the decision. If the central bank decides to change interest rates through open market operations the social and environmental impacts will depend on which instruments it chooses to trade – and in what proportions. On the other hand, these affects will depend on the decisions of banks if it implements the decision by changing the reserve requirements or the interest rate it charges banks for short term loans.
There are some noteworthy examples. The central banks of Kenya, the Netherlands and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco consider factors such as community development and financial inclusion in their stewardship of their financial systems. And the Dutch central bank now has a mandate to include sustainability in its decision making. The Chinese central bank has been authorised to take climate considerations into account in its monetary decisions.
Central bank operations, therefore, cannot avoid affecting human rights.
The human rights responsibilities
The unavoidable impact of central banking operations on human rights means that central banks have to develop a better understanding of their human rights responsibilities. The applicable law is the starting point. But the relevant law and jurisprudence is unlikely to provide detailed guidance on how central banks should interpret and implement their human rights responsibilities.
A good reference tool for the central bank is the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These principles stipulate that all businesses should have a human rights policy. The policy should be publicly available and should be applicable to all the business’s operations and decision-making.
The Principles also state that businesses should conduct adequate human rights due diligence before and during their decision making and implementation process. This requirement means that they should conduct human rights impact assessments of their proposed operations. They should also take steps to avoid or mitigate the identified adverse human rights impacts.
Central banks will face particular challenges in meeting their human rights responsibilities. Their instrument independence means that their human rights policy will need to be respectful of the central bank’s independence and its mandate.
At the same time, the central bank needs to be cognisant of the fact that its human rights policy may have implications for other state entities and for the country’s political leadership. These considerations complicate but do not render impossible the task of drafting a central bank human rights policy.
Their ability to conduct detailed human rights impact assessments will be complicated by the relative speed and discretion with which they must often operate. This does not, however, make it impossible for them to assess their impact on human rights. Instead, it suggests that central banks need to develop and maintain a sufficiently detailed general and ongoing understanding of the actual impact of their operations on human rights. This is so that they can make informed judgements about the likely effects of their proposed monetary decisions on specific communities.
This disaggregated approach should provide central banks with a detailed and nuanced understanding of how their policies actually affect different sub-groups of their society. By doing this it should enable central banks to determine the true costs and benefits of their policies and actions. This should improve their decision-making.
Conclusion
According to Bradlow this analysis demonstrates three key points. First, it is becoming untenable for central banks to avoid incorporating their human rights impacts into their decision-making and operations. Second, a human rights approach offers central banks a new tool for understanding the true costs and benefits of their operations. Third, central banks can meet their human rights responsibilities without compromising the independence they need to meet their monetary and financial responsibilities.
Danny Bradlow, SARCHI Professor of International Development Law and African Economic Relations, University of Pretoria
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has joined the trillion-naira exclusive club of firms, marking its first entry in its two decades of being listed on the Nigerian Exchange.
The Pan-African lender saw its valuation surge more than the N1 trillion mark on Monday, January 5, 2026. As of the close of trade on Monday, January 12, the stock had gained 7.4 percent, with its share price hitting N45. ETI has accrued 23 percent over the past four-week period alone, making it the 40th best on NGX.
“Ecobank Transnational Inc. is currently the 23rd most valuable stock on the NGX with a market capitalisation of N 1.07 trillion, which makes up about 1.02 percent of the Nigerian Stock Exchange equity market,” according to African Stock Exchange data, a market analytics platform.
This historic feat follows the early repayment of $245 million of Ecobank’s $300 million Eurobond issuance to bondholders who validly tendered their notes ahead of the February 2026 maturity date.
This must have led to an improved confidence in the bank’s operation, which gained 61 percent a year ago despite the sell-off that rattled the bank’s stock in 2025.
More Nigerian lenders are seeing their market capitalisation cross the N1 trillion mark, suggesting renewed investor confidence in the sector that’s undergoing a recapitalisation exercise.
GTCO remains the most capitalised, with its valuation reaching N3.62 trillion as of January 12, followed by Zenith Bank, First Bank of Nigeria, United Bank for Africa, Access Bank, and Stanbic IBTC with N2.75 trillion, N2.16 trillion, N1.94 trillion, N1.23 trillion, and N1.7 trillion, respectively. By crossing N1 trillion, Ecobank now sits among the country’s biggest lenders within the trillion-naira club.
Fidelity Bank, on April 4, 2025, saw its market value shoot above N1 trillion, making it the first tier-2 bank to cross the threshold. However, it slipped below the mark on May 20 following a Supreme Court ruling that pressured its share price. The bank’s valuation currently stands at N957 billion.
The membership of the exclusive club of listed companies with at least N1 trillion valuation has increased to 24, compared to 17 a year earlier, according to data from the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
The top five members include BUA Foods with a market cap of N14.38 trillion, MTN Nigerian Communications with N12.70 trillion, Dangote Cement with N10.71 trillion, Airtel Africa with N8.53 trillion, and BUA Cement with N6.2 trillion.
Wema Bank Plc has launched the upgraded version of its flagship digital banking platform, ALAT by Wema. Designed as the next phase in digital banking, the upgraded version of ALAT delivers a smarter, faster, and more intuitive experience, reinforcing Wema Bank’s leadership in technology-driven financial services.
Tagged ALAT: The Evolution, the upgraded version represents a significant advancement in how customers interact with their bank.
It enables seamless banking through intelligent features such as voice banking (called SAW), which allows customers to carry out banking activities using natural voice commands, reducing friction and improving accessibility.
It also introduces Tap and Pay for quick, secure, and convenient contactless transactions, alongside uptime prediction that enhances transparency, reliability, and confidence around service availability.
Together, these innovations are designed to simplify everyday banking while anticipating customer needs in real time, reinforcing Wema Bank’s commitment to trust, efficiency, and customer-centric digital experiences.
While announcing the upgraded version of the ALAT Banking app, Moruf Oseni, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Wema Bank, said, “ALAT: The Evolution is more than an upgrade. It is a clear demonstration of our commitment to redefining digital banking in Africa.
“By understanding the future of banking and listening closely to our customers, we have upgraded ALAT by Wema to a digital banking platform that is smart, intelligent and dependable. This evolution reinforces our promise to deliver innovation that genuinely enhances how people live, work, and transact everyday.”
He added that migrating to the upgraded app is seamless. “Existing customers can simply visit the Google Play Store or Apple App Store to update their existing ALAT app and sign-in with their existing login details (All their account information and transaction history remain intact on their profile and they will also gain access to new features that make banking faster, more intuitive, and more reliable).
For new customers, all they have to do is visit the Google Play Store or Apple App Store to download ALAT by Wema app and click the Get Started icon to onboard seamlessly.
Speaking on the technology in the upgraded ALAT by Wema, Olusegun Adeniyi, Chief Digital Officer at Wema Bank, explained, “With ALAT: The Evolution, we set out to enhance not just functionality but the overall banking experience.
“By integrating voice banking, contactless payments, and predictive reliability, we are delivering a platform that is built on powerful technology and responds intelligently to customer needs. This upgrade reflects our long-term digital vision to create a digital bank that is adaptive, intuitive, and consistently available.”
Built on speed, intelligence, and user-centric design, ALAT: The Evolution redefines everyday banking through intuitive features such as voice-enabled transactions, contactless payments, and predictive service reliability. Designed to anticipate customer needs in real time, the platform delivers a smarter, more seamless, and dependable digital banking experience that reflects Wema Bank’s vision for the future of finance.
With the upgraded version of ALAT, Wema Bank continues to strengthen its position as a digital-first institution, delivering innovative solutions that empower individuals and businesses to bank with confidence in an increasingly digital economy.
Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has declared a second liquidation dividend of ₦24.3 billion for depositors of Heritage Bank Limited (in liquidation) whose account balances exceeded the statutory insured limit of ₦5 million at the time of the bank’s closure.
Heritage Bank’s operating licence was revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on June 3, 2024, after which the NDIC was appointed liquidator in line with the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 and the NDIC Act 2023.
In a statement signed by Hawwau Gambo, head of the Communication and Public Affairs Department, the Corporation said “the second liquidation dividend would be paid at a rate of 5.2 kobo per ₦1.00 on outstanding uninsured balances. This brings the total liquidation dividend paid so far to 14.4 kobo per ₦1.00.
“The NDIC has now declared a second liquidation dividend of ₦24.3 billion. This amount, derived from debt recovery, sale of physical assets, and realisation of investments, will be applied to the payment of uninsured balances for depositors with funds exceeding the ₦5 million insured limit. The second liquidation dividend is payable at a rate of 5.2 kobo per ₦1.00 on outstanding balances, in accordance with Section 72 of the NDIC Act 2023. This brings the cumulative liquidation dividend declared to date to 14.4 kobo per ₦1.00”.
The NDIC recalled that it had earlier paid a first liquidation dividend of ₦46.6 billion in April 2025, representing 9.2 kobo per ₦1.00, following the reimbursement of insured deposits of up to ₦5 million per depositor from its Deposit Insurance Fund.
According to the Corporation, the second tranche was made possible through sustained recovery of debts and continued asset disposal.
“This payment is in furtherance of our statutory responsibility to ensure that depositors of closed banks are reimbursed promptly as assets are realised,” the NDIC said.
The Corporation explained that payments would be made automatically to eligible depositors using existing records. Depositors who have already received their insured deposits and the first liquidation dividend will have their alternative bank accounts credited automatically through their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN).
However, depositors without alternative bank accounts or BVNs, as well as those who have not claimed their insured deposits or the first liquidation dividend, were advised to visit the nearest NDIC office nationwide or complete the e-claim form on the Corporation’s website for verification and processing.
The NDIC noted that liquidation dividends are paid only to depositors with balances above the insured limit and are sourced from asset sales and recoveries. Other creditors and shareholders will be considered only after all depositors have been fully reimbursed and subject to the availability of funds.
The Corporation assured the public that the ₦24.3 billion payment represents only the second liquidation dividend, adding that further payments would be made as additional assets are realised and outstanding debts recovered.
Depositors were advised to contact the NDIC Claims Resolution Department at any of its offices nationwide or through the Corporation’s official email addresses and helplines for further enquiries.
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