The University of Ghana has been crowned champion of the second edition of the National Banking and Ethics Challenge (NBEC), after outscoring eleven rival institutions at the Grand Finale held at the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB) Ghana Auditorium in Accra.
The University of Ghana Business School finished first with 35 points. The University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) placed second with 29.5 points, and the University for Development Studies (UDS) came third with 26.5 points in a competition that drew faculty, students, and banking industry leaders from across the country.
The second edition, known as NBEC 2.0, represented a significant expansion of the initiative. Twelve universities participated, more than double the five institutions that took part in the inaugural edition in May 2025. Competing institutions included Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University of Cape Coast (UCC), University of Education Winneba (UEW), Central University, Academic City University College, Wisconsin International University College, All Nations University, Pentecost University College, and UPSA, spanning public research universities, private colleges, and professionally oriented institutions. The competition progressed through three stages: a preliminaries round, semifinals, and the Grand Finale.
CIB Ghana President Benjamin Amenumey described the challenge as both a training ground and a strategic intervention in the banking sector’s future. He cited the rapid growth in participation as proof of the initiative’s relevance. “Every contestant is a winner, in the knowledge they have acquired, the experiences, and the network,” Mr Amenumey said.
Beyond the trophy, NBEC 2.0 delivered concrete professional benefits to all participants. GCB Bank will provide internship placements for every contestant who competed in the challenge, offering direct exposure to the banking industry. Students who choose to enrol as Chartered Bankers with CIB Ghana will receive a full waiver on their registration fees, while non-contestant attendees at the event are eligible for a 50 percent fee reduction on student registration.
CIB Ghana Chief Executive Officer Robert Dzato situated the competition within the Institute’s statutory mandate under the Chartered Bankers Act 2019 (Act 911), which charges the body with promoting the study of banking and regulating the profession. He articulated four objectives driving the challenge: developing trusted professionals, advancing quality education aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 on financial literacy, broadening public financial education, and driving sector-wide re-professionalization following the reputational damage caused by the 2017 to 2018 banking sector cleanup and a documented rise in staff-related fraud.
“Trust is the currency in banking,” Mr Dzato said. “That trust comes from ethics, from character, from doing the right thing even when no one is watching.”
The competition’s question bank spanned everyday banking products and services, estate banking following the death of an account holder, Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) principles, fraud prevention covering cyber fraud and SIM swap fraud, digital banking, cryptocurrency, and financial literacy fundamentals. The questions were deliberately designed so that even audience members without banking training would leave better informed.
Mr Dzato also outlined CIB Ghana’s four-level qualification framework for aspiring Chartered Bankers, progressing from Fundamentals in Financial Services at Level 1 through to Strategic Leader in Financial Services at Level 4, with a modular structure that allows practitioners to pursue targeted learning in areas such as treasury management without completing the entire pathway. The Institute’s complementary programmes include a Digital Learning Academy, an ESG curriculum developed jointly with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA Ghana), and an Ethics 2.0 certification programme launched earlier in 2026, which follows approximately 10,000 completions under the original ethics certification.
Looking ahead, CIB Ghana confirmed that NBEC 3.0 will introduce a regional zonal format comprising a southern zone and a northern zone, widening access for universities outside the Greater Accra region and reducing barriers for institutions in the north. The next edition is also expected to deepen coverage of non-performing loans, digital assets, and cryptocurrency, reflecting the evolving regulatory landscape chartered bankers must navigate.
Mr Dzato signalled ambitions beyond Ghana’s borders. “Our vision is to be the most relevant institute for professional banking education in Africa,” he said. “We are developing trusted human capital for the continent.”
