By Rukayat Moisemhe
The Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN) has advocated a single-digit borrowing rate to help businesses survive rising financing costs and reduce the incidence of business failures in Nigeria.
Mr Albert Folorunsho, President, BRIPAN, made the call in Lagos on Friday night at the close of the association’s 2026 Annual International Insolvency Conference.
The conference, which had the theme, “Building an Insolvency Architecture for a New World Order”, examined Nigeria’s insolvency framework, including the rescue mechanisms introduced under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020.
Folorunsho said the association would engage the Federal Government and other stakeholders on measures that could reduce the factors contributing to business failures, particularly the high cost of borrowing.
“Most businesses that fail depend so much on borrowing. And when you depend so much on borrowing, the lending rate is so high—even though we have a small cut now by CBN last week—but it is still high.
“When you talk about 23 per cent plus whatever rate, it is still high. So, there’s no way you can continue to borrow money that the business will be able to survive, you know, the repayment without failing,” he said.
He said BRIPAN would advocate for a reduction of borrowing rates to single digits, describing it as an aspiration that could help businesses remain viable.
“We need to engage government to look at probably coming to a single-digit—I mean, I know it’s a dream—a single-digit borrowing rate is the one that we want to advocate and we hope that will help businesses to survive,” Folorunsho said.
The BRIPAN president said the conference also examined the effectiveness of the rescue provisions contained in CAMA 2020, particularly Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) and administration.
According to him, the provisions represented a departure from the old receivership management system by providing mechanisms through which distressed businesses could be rescued and continue as going concerns.
He said the conference provided an opportunity for practitioners and stakeholders to assess how the provisions had operated in the six years since the enactment of CAMA 2020.
“The objective was to examine how it has operated so far. What are the challenges for the implementation? Are there new things that need to be done?
“What are our members doing in terms of ethics and integrity? How can we implement provisions that help them to do their work in a better way and uphold the ethics of the profession?” he said.
Folorunsho said one of the major recommendations from the conference was the need for a renewed code of ethics for insolvency practitioners.
He said BRIPAN had already commissioned experts to develop the revised code.
He also identified stronger collaboration among BRIPAN, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and other stakeholders as another key outcome of the conference.
“There’s a need for a more collaborative relationship between BRIPAN, CAC, and other stakeholders.
“Also, that we have identified, and that is why we have the presence of CAC members in their numbers in this conference,” he said.
Folorunsho said the association would sustain engagements with CAC, regulatory authorities and other stakeholders, including through visits and consultations, to strengthen Nigeria’s business rescue framework.
He also called for Nigeria’s adoption of relevant international insolvency instruments to address cross-border insolvency issues.
On BRIPAN’s expanding membership, Folorunsho said the association currently had more than 2,000 members, comprising fellows and associates.
He urged the recently inducted fellows and members on professionalism and utmost excellence in line with the association’s code of conduct.
He stated that the objective of insolvency practitioners was not to wait until businesses collapsed before intervening.
“Like we said, our members are not undertakers. We believe that the objective is to rescue a business as a going concern.
“So, the essence is to be able to determine right on time before a business begins to fail. So, we don’t expect any business to get to the level of not being able to rescue them before their rescue,” he said.
He said the growing membership would also help provide greater access to practitioners, particularly for banks and other lenders seeking guidance on credit documentation and provisions that could facilitate business rescue.
“We believe those numbers are going to help a lot, but we don’t want companies to be failing. So, we’re not producing people that will be managing failing companies; we believe companies should continue to run as a going concern,” Folorunsho said.
He said BRIPAN would continue to work with government and other stakeholders to develop measures that would reduce business failures and strengthen the country’s insolvency architecture. (NAN)
Edited by Folasade Adeniran
Comments