The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank, Olusegun Alebiosu, has said challenging economic conditions should compel banks to strengthen their sustainability strategies rather than treat them as discretionary costs.

Alebiosu spoke in Lagos at the inaugural Sustainability Conference of the Sustainability Professionals Institute of Nigeria (SPIN), themed, “The Adaptive Enterprise: Sustainability Strategies for Challenging Times.”

He said currency volatility, inflation, tighter capital conditions and declining global appetite for environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments were putting pressure on Nigerian banks, making sustainability and resilience increasingly important to long-term growth.

Speaking through FirstBank’s Executive Director, Risk, Biyi Olagbami, Alebiosu said the temptation during difficult periods was to suspend sustainability initiatives until economic conditions improved, but the bank’s experience had shown that such an approach was counterproductive.

“The harder the environment, the more sustainability strategy earns its place as a core risk and growth discipline, not an add-on,” he said.

Alebiosu said FirstBank’s gross earnings rose to N3.4tn in 2025 despite the difficult operating environment, arguing that sustainability and business resilience could be pursued simultaneously.

He said a credible sustainability strategy should protect institutions from emerging environmental and social risks, create new revenue opportunities and maintain the trust of customers, regulators and communities.

On risk management, Alebiosu said FirstBank had finalised its Green Product Credit Policy, aligning its lending standards with its Climate Policy, Environmental and Social Management System, International Finance Corporation Performance Standards and IFRS S1 and S2.

He said the policy provides sector-specific screening for oil and gas, power, construction and agriculture, ensuring ESG due diligence is incorporated into the bank’s credit underwriting process.

“In 2025 alone, we screened 505 corporate transactions for ESG risk valued at over N10tn, up from 237 transactions worth over N3tn in 2024,” he said.

On sustainability-driven business opportunities, Alebiosu said the bank was expanding its climate-finance offerings to include Alternative Energy Finance for individuals, Solar Financing for small and medium enterprises and a green-mobility addendum to its vehicle-finance offering.

He described Nigeria’s transition to cleaner energy as “first and foremost, a financing gap,” stressing that banks were well positioned to help bridge it.

Alebiosu also announced that FirstBank would publish its first Sustainability Report this year in line with IFRS S1 and S2, while maintaining its commitments to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, the UN Global Compact and the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles.