Kaduna Electric Frontline June Edition

 

“The Postpaid Nature of the Business Poses a Huge Liquidity Challenge to the Industry”…. Head Treasury.

 

CCD: What are your top priorities for treasury management and how do you align them with the company's overall goals?

YI: My top priority for treasury management in relation to the Company’s overall goals is to ensure that we make funds available to meet critical commitments in other to support all functions that are geared towards efficient delivery of electricity to our customers.

YUSUF IDRIS, Head Treasury

CCD: How do you manage cash flow and liquidity to ensure optimal utilization of found?

YI: We manage cash flow by utilizing an Expenditure Prioritization Matrix (EPM) that is in direct confluence with our regulatory Key Performance Indices which are primarily hinged on enhancing service uptime and reducing downtime to the barest minimum for our esteemed customers.

CCD: What strategies do you use to mitigate financial risks?

YI: There are basically 4 strategies to mitigate the likelihood of events that could have undesirable financial impact on our operations depending on its nature and severity. We could choose to reduce or retain risks that are within our control and avoid or transfer risks for which we have little or no control.

 CCD: How do you optimize your capital structure and funding sources to minimize costs and maximize efficiency?

YI: The postpaid nature of the business poses a huge liquidity challenge to the industry, which is further aggravated by the unresponsive attitude of customers & widespread energy theft. All of these accumulate to negatively impact the capital structure and make it even more difficult to assess funds especially from primary sources.

CCD: What tools and technologies do you leverage for treasury management, and how do you stay up-to-date with industry innovation?

YI: The tools we utilize for managing our treasury operations are largely developed in-house to suit our industry and operational peculiarities. We have developed a couple of templates to aid the planning and prioritizing of expenditures. Nevertheless, as finance professionals, we ensure to read up from articles journal led in Treasury Management International (TMI) and Harvard Business Reviews (HBR) among others which show case best practices, strategic insights & case studies from treasury practitioners worldwide.

CCD: Assuming you are given an opportunity to talk to the staff, what will be your message to them?

 YI: Given an opportunity to talk to members of staff, the message will be for everyone one of us to align to the realities of our situation as a struggling organization with huge potentials. We are not where we should be but with selflessness and deliberate customer-centric initiatives, we would surpass expectations.

CCD: Who is Yusuf Idris and what brings out the best in him?

 YI: I am a realist with an uncommon conviction for getting things done no matter what it takes. I could be overly serious when I need to be and on the other hand, I could be somewhat playful if the situation calls for it.  I try to balance out work with leisure at appropriate intervals.

CCD: How do you ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and financial reporting standard?

YI: There is absolutely no compromise on compliance with regulatory and financial reporting standards. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is very clear on regulatory standards and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has got very stringent penalties for infractions to its guidelines. We therefore strive to ensure compliance by constantly conducting compliance checks on our accounting treatment of financial transactions.

CCD: How do you collaborate with other departments, to ensure alignment  and effective financial management?

YI: On our collaboration with other departments, we try to provide enlightenment about our processes and the timelines for which we expect claims to be made ahead of due dates. This is critical to our planning all in a bid to ensure that we can support all key activities of the business that are critical to commendable service delivery for our customers in a timely manner.

CCD: What key performance indicators (KPIs) do you use to measure treasury performance and success?

YI: The Key Performance Indices that we utilize to measure performance are segmented into Liquidity & Cash Management KPIs with example to include Percentage of Cash transactions reconciled automatically, Funding & Investment Management KPIs with example to include Weighted Average Credit Default Swap, FX Commodity & Interest Rate Exposure Management KPIs with example of Hedge Ratio, Treasury Operations and Accounting KPIs and Risk Management & Policy Compliance KPIs.