Where NPLs Begin and Why it matters: Credit Underwriting Standards, Governance, Loan Processes, NPLs Landscape and Drivers

Key Topics: • Credit underwriting standards and lending practices in Liberia: how weak credit assessments, over-reliance on collateral values rather than cash-flow analysis, inadequate borrower due diligence, and poor credit structuring contribute to future loan distress. • Governance and accountability in lending decisions: the role of bank boards, risk committees, audit functions, senior management, and internal controls in maintaining credit discipline and safeguarding portfolio quality. • Loan approval processes and credit decision-making frameworks: related or connected lending, and concentration risks. • Liberia’s NPL landscape: scale, concentration, sectoral distribution, aging profile, and composition of distressed assets across the banking sector. • Primary drivers of NPL accumulation: macroeconomic pressures, government payment arrears, foreign exchange risks, governance weaknesses, underwriting deficiencies, sector-specific vulnerabilities, and borrower-related challenges. Expected Output: Shared diagnosis of macroeconomic constraints on access to finance; alignment on government reform priorities; and recommendations to address fiscal arrears to the commercial banks. Moderator: Mr. Stephen Cashin, CEO, Pan-African Capital Incorporated Scene-setting: Liberia’s financial sector and the NPL challenge, structural drivers, the impact on access to finance and private sector growth, cost of inaction; Conference objectives, program, and expected outputs. Panelists: Hon. Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, Minister, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning| Mr. Henry F. Saamoi, Executive Governor, Central Bank of Liberia| Ms. Georgia Wallen, Country Manager Liberia, World Bank Group| Mr. Lekan Balogun, Liberia Bankers’ Association, President| Mr. O. Natty B. Davis, President, Liberia Chamber of Commerce | Mr. James M. Strother, President, Liberia Business Association (LIBA)| Mr. James D. Smith, Vice President, Association of Liberian Construction Contractors.