CSR Governance
Corporate Social Responsibility Committee
Our approach to Corporate Social Responsibility is built on best practices. The Board of Directors have the highest level of governance oversight for the management of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Bank. The Board of Directors therefore approved the establishment of the Access Bank Corporate Social Responsibility Committee which consists of:

• Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, who is also the Chairman of the Committee
• A Senior Independent Adviser (Dr. Christopher Kolade)
• Deputy Group Managing Director
• Executive Director, Investment Banking
• Group Head, General Resource Management
• Group Head, Wealth Management
• Head, Group Human Resources
• Head, Group Internal Audit
• Group Head, Total Quality Management
• Head, Regulatory Compliance and Reputational Risk
• Group Head, Corporate Communications and Brand Management
• Head, Corporate Social Responsibility, who also serves as the Secretary of the Committee

Responsibilities
The management of the Bank’s CSR activities is the responsibility of the CSR Committee; however the CSR Department, headed by the Chief CSR Officer is responsible for the implementation of the Committee’s policies by taking day-to-day intervention decisions and executing them.

The Role of The Independent Adviser
The role of the Independent Adviser to the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee is to provide support and guidance on the decisions of the Bank with respect to Corporate Social Responsibility. Presently Dr. Christopher Kolade, a former Chief Executive and Chairman of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, holds this position. He was once the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and more recently a Lecturer in Corporate Governance and Human Resources Management at the Lagos Business School, Nigeria. Dr. Kolade has promoted community peace building projects as a diplomat and as a volunteer. He has also promoted business integrity in Nigeria through his chairmanship of organizations such as The Convention on Business Integrity.

Reporting Framework
In developing our report, we utilize relevant international standards and guidelines such as the AA/1000 Assurance Standards and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. We are an Organizational Stakeholder of the GRI and are committed to the mission of the GRI to develop globally accepted sustainability reporting guidelines through a global, multi-stakeholder process.

Ratings, Awards and Recognitions:

• Social Enterprise Reports Awards (SERA) 2009 - Most Improved CSR
• March 2009 - Nominated for the Financial Times Sustainable Banking Awards, in the “Emerging Markets Sustainable Bank of the Year” category. Our entry was selected from a total of 165 entries received from 117 institutions across 42 countries.