Financial Management for Credit Risk & Lending Training Course

Lending remains the main source of income for banks, SACCOs and microfinance institutions in Africa, and it is also where their greatest vulnerabilities lie. Economic shocks, weak borrower information and rapid growth in unsecured and digital loans have pushed many institutions to rethink how they price, monitor and provision credit.

In this Financial Management for Credit Risk & Lending Training Course, participants follow a loan through its financial life. They begin with borrower analysis, using ratio analysis, cash flow projections and sector knowledge to judge repayment capacity, then examine collateral, guarantees and loan structure. The course next connects credit decisions to the income statement and balance sheet: interest margins, fees, funding costs, expected credit loss and the capital that supports the portfolio.

The approach is case driven. Participants work through borrower files, build simple spreadsheet models for pricing and provisioning, and interpret portfolio quality reports such as ageing analyses and vintage curves. They also practise presenting credit proposals and recovery plans to a credit committee. By the end, each participant will have a completed credit appraisal, a worked IFRS 9 example and a list of changes to consider in their own lending policy.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Analyse borrower financial statements and cash flows to determine repayment capacity.
• Structure facilities with suitable security, covenants and repayment profiles.
• Apply risk-based pricing that covers funding cost, expected loss, operating cost and target return.
• Calculate expected credit loss using probability of default, loss given default and exposure at default.
• Allocate exposures to IFRS 9 stages and explain the effect on provisions and earnings.
• Monitor portfolio quality using ageing, concentration and early warning indicators.
• Design restructuring and recovery strategies for distressed loans.

The course serves professionals who originate, approve, account for or oversee loans, such as:

• Credit analysts and credit committee members
• Relationship managers in corporate, SME and retail banking
• Credit risk and portfolio managers
• Finance managers and financial controllers in lenders
• SACCO, microfinance and digital lender managers
• Collections and recoveries officers
• Internal and external auditors reviewing loan books
• Development finance institution and fund credit officers

Participants leave the course with:

• A structured credit appraisal template with ratio and cash flow sections.
• A pricing spreadsheet linking funding cost, risk premium and target return.
• A worked expected credit loss example using IFRS 9 staging.
• A one-page portfolio quality dashboard layout.
• A checklist of early warning signs and escalation steps.
• Suggested improvements to lending policy and recovery procedures in their own institutions.

The course is built around the figures and judgements that lending teams handle every day. Methods include:

• Borrower case files covering retail trading, agriculture, manufacturing and services
• Spreadsheet workshops for ratio analysis, cash flow projection, pricing and provisioning
• Credit committee role plays where participants defend or challenge proposals
• Portfolio report reading exercises with ageing and vintage data
• Facilitated discussion of participants' own lending challenges

A CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion from Vision Reach Global Consultancy is issued to each participant who attends the sessions and completes the case exercises.