Lending remains the largest source of risk for most financial institutions. Rising interest rates, uneven economic conditions and the growth of digital credit have raised the stakes for sound judgement, and supervisors expect lenders to evidence both their appraisal standards and the way they provision for losses. Good practice is the difference between a loan book that supports growth and one that consumes capital.

The course follows the life of a loan. It opens with credit risk fundamentals and policy, then covers borrower assessment, including management quality, industry position, financial analysis and projections. Participants practise structuring facilities, selecting and valuing collateral, drafting covenants, and presenting a recommendation to a credit committee. Later sessions address monitoring, restructuring, workout and write-off, and the accounting and capital consequences of credit losses, including IFRS 9 stages and probability of default, loss given default and exposure at default concepts.

Learning is case-led. Teams review realistic files, debate approval decisions and build their own monitoring tools. Each participant returns to work with checklists and templates that can be adopted in an existing credit process.

At the end of the programme, participants will be able to:

• Apply credit policy and risk appetite when originating and approving loans.
• Analyse borrower financial statements and cash flow to judge repayment capacity.
• Structure facilities with tenor, repayment profile, pricing and covenants that match the risk.
• Evaluate collateral and guarantees and confirm that security is enforceable.
• Use internal ratings and early warning indicators to monitor accounts.
• Explain IFRS 9 staging and expected credit loss in practical terms.
• Select recovery and restructuring options for troubled borrowers.

The programme suits staff who lend, approve, monitor or review credit, such as:

• Credit analysts and underwriters
• Relationship managers in corporate, commercial and SME banking
• Branch managers and loan officers
• Credit committee members and heads of credit
• Credit risk and portfolio managers
• Recovery, collections and workout officers
• Internal auditors and compliance officers reviewing lending
• Microfinance and SACCO credit managers

Participants return to work with:

• A credit appraisal template covering qualitative and quantitative assessment.
• A cash flow analysis worksheet that tests repayment under stress.
• A covenant and security checklist for common facility types.
• A set of early warning indicators adapted to their portfolio.
• A short credit paper written during the programme and critiqued by peers.

The programme mirrors the real work of a credit department. Participants engage through:

• Briefings from facilitators with direct lending and risk experience
• Credit files drawn from trade, agriculture, manufacturing and property borrowers
• Mock credit committees where teams defend or reject proposals
• Spreadsheet exercises on cash flow, ratios and expected loss
• Review of each other's written recommendations

Attendance throughout and completion of the case exercises earn a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion from Vision Reach Global Consultancy.