Redefining Public-Private Partnerships in Africa’s Banking Sector: The Strategic Vision of Thelma Chibueze

By Asukwo Iyabo

Nigeria’s financial sector is in the midst of a structural transformation. With over 67 million unbanked citizens, 40 million MSMEs struggling to access credit, and cooperative societies operating mostly on manual paper-based systems, traditional banking models have proven inadequate for inclusive economic growth. Recognising that financial institutions could no longer rely solely on branch networks and collateral-based lending, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) urged banks to deploy digital infrastructure, form cross-sector partnerships, and align with the National Financial Inclusion Strategy. In response, Sterling Bank repositioned itself using the HEART strategy focused on Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy, and Transportation. Yet it was within this strategic shift that one initiative became a national case study in innovation: the digital transformation of cooperative finance and small business ecosystems led by Thelma Chibueze.

As Lead for Strategic Partnerships and Cooperatives Business Development at Sterling Bank in 2022, Thelma architected one of Nigeria’s most effective public-private partnership frameworks in retail and institutional banking. In her career, she led the bank’s collaboration with Lagos State Cooperative Federation, the Nigerian Fintech firm CloudCoop Technologies, and the Corporate Affairs Commission to digitise cooperative societies across 28 states. She engineered the integration of CloudCoop’s software with Sterling Bank’s core banking suite (FINTRACK/T24), allowing cooperatives to manage member savings, loans, and withdrawals in real-time. “A cooperative is not just a group of savers it is a micro-economy,” she said. “If we digitise their records, secure their contributions, and integrate them into the national financial system, we are not supporting them, we are empowering them to support themselves.”

Digitising 5,000 Cooperatives with Cloud-Based Finance Platforms

At the time, most of Nigeria’s over 20,000 registered cooperatives operated without digital ledgers, credit histories, or verified financial statements. This made access to institutional credit nearly impossible. Thelma proposed a model that would allow cooperatives to open a Sterling Bank corporate account, host their data on a cloud-based Cooperative Management Platform (CMP), and integrate directly with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).

She negotiated licensing terms with CloudCoop Technologies, enabling Sterling Bank to deploy CMP to savings groups, agricultural cooperatives, transport unions, teachers’ associations, and market women networks. Within a year, over 5,000 cooperatives were digitisedeach one able to register members with Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), generate automated statements, and apply for loans without physical documentation. “Innovation is not about apps it’s about access,” she said. “For the first time, a pepper seller in Ibadan can belong to a cooperative with a digital wallet, a transaction record, and a credit score. That is financial democracy.”

Direct Debit – Eliminating Defaults and Building Trust

A major barrier to cooperative lending was repayment risk. Before 2022, cooperatives used manual collection officers, resulting in delayed payments and high defaults. Her team introduced a Direct Debit Mandate System, approved under the CBN Guidelines for Standing Instructions and NIBSS e-mandate protocols. This system linked cooperative member accounts to the bank’s transaction processing infrastructure. Once a loan was disbursed, deductions for savings or repayments were automatically debited on agreed dates.

Defaults dropped by over 60 percent in six months. Sterling Bank’s cooperative lending portfolio grew by 300 percent, rising from ₦350 million to over ₦1.4 billion within a year. “When repayments are predictable, trust becomes bankable,” she noted. “We didn’t automate collections to make banking faster. We did it to make dignity measurable.”

Strategic Partnership Framework and Revenue Model Execution

Thelma structured agreements where Sterling Bank provided regulatory and liquidity backing, CloudCoop supplied software infrastructure, and cooperatives contributed user adoption and social capital. The revenue model was split across onboarding fees, transaction charges, loan interest margins, and value-added services like micro-insurance and pensions.

Her team implemented an internal Cooperative Finance Dashboard that monitored real-time loan disbursements, delinquency rates, average savings per member, and regional adoption. This data was shared monthly with executives and regulators. “Data is our new balance sheet,” she said. “You cannot solve national problems with guesswork.”

Under her leadership, Sterling Bank also partnered with state governments in Ogun, Oyo, Kano, and Delta to issue digital cooperative certificates, making groups eligible for state-backed grants and agricultural interventions.

Public-Private Partnerships Beyond Technology

Thelma and her team linked cooperatives with agencies such as the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), and the Bank of Agriculture to access subsidised financing. She aligned Sterling Bank’s cooperative strategy with the CBN’s ₦220 billion MSME Intervention Fund and the Federal Government’s National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP).

Her team also collaborated with fintech players such as Remita (payment processing), VerifyMe (digital identity verification), and Interswitch (API settlements). This created a multi-layered partnership ecosystempolicy support from the public sector, capital from banks, innovation from fintech, and users from cooperatives.

“A public-private partnership is not a signature between a bank and a ministry,” she said. “It is a living ecosystem where every stakeholder gains value and citizens gain dignity.”

Women-Led Cooperatives and Grassroots Financial Equity

Under her guidance, 38 percent of the digitised cooperatives were women-led. In partnership with Lagos State Market Women Association and FADAMA agricultural networks, she deployed microcredit programmes offering loans between ₦50,000 and ₦500,000 to traders, farmers, and artisans.

These loans required no physical collateral only cooperative membership, BVN verification, and a three-month savings contribution record. “Women do not need charity,” she remarked. “They need infrastructure that recognises their contribution to the economy.”

The impact was measurable: cooperative members reported an average 45 percent increase in business capital turnover, and savings per member increased by 32 percent within nine months.

Influencing Institutional Banking Culture

Thelma’s role reshaped how Sterling Bank approached partnerships. She developed an internal policy paper titled “Cooperative Digitalization as a Strategic Asset Class,” submitted to the Executive Management Committee. It recommended including cooperative lending under formal risk-asset portfolios, improving capital allocation to informal sector banking, and training over 600 retail officers nationwide.

Her ideas influenced internal restructuring creating the Bank’s Cooperative and Alliance Business Desk. “Banks must evolve beyond vaults and branches,” she asserted. “We are no longer just financial institutions. We are economic infrastructure.”

Legacy and National Relevance

By late 2022, Sterling Bank became recognised as a leader in cooperative and inclusive finance within Nigeria and West Africa. Its cooperative customer base exceeded 500,000 individuals, with financial assets managed digitally across both rural and urban regions. What set this model apart was not technology alone, but the partnership between private innovation, public policy, and community trust.

“Africa’s development will not be written only in boardrooms or parliaments,” Thelma said. “It will be written in marketplaces, cooperative halls, and data centres where policy, people, and platforms finally meet.”

Finally

Public-private partnerships have often been reduced to bureaucratic agreements. Thelma Chibueze proved they could be instruments of national transformation. By digitising more than 5,000 cooperatives, introducing automated financial systems, and aligning banking with social infrastructure, she redefined how institutions can empower citizens.

Her work at Sterling Bank bridged the gaps between fintech and tradition, policy and practice, local communities and national economic strategy. It demonstrated that inclusive finance is not philanthropy but a strategic, measurable, scalable asset class with the power to reshape Africa’s economic future.

Through her leadership, partnership ceased to be a corporate slogan and became a national blueprint. In a country seeking models of integrity, innovation, and impact, her vision stands as evidence that transformational leadership is not only possible it is happening.