Applicants may enter through any of the following routes:

Standard Entry

• Completed secondary/high-school education or equivalent.
• GCSE/GCE O-Level, High School Diploma or equivalent international qualification.

Professional Entry

Applicants holding a relevant:

• Banking certificate
• Accounting certificate
• Finance qualification
• Business qualification
• Economics qualification
• Microfinance qualification
• Credit-management qualification
• Financial-services qualification

may also be considered.

Mature Entry

Applicants without formal post-secondary qualifications may be considered based on relevant professional experience in:

• Banking
• Lending
• Credit
• Microfinance
• SACCOs/cooperatives
• Accounting
• Financial services
• Business management

International Applicants

International applicants may be required to submit:

• Academic transcripts/certificates
• Proof of identity
• Qualification equivalency where applicable
• Certified English translations where documents are not in English
• Evidence of English proficiency where required

Final admission requirements are subject to the applicable accreditation and regulatory requirements in the jurisdiction where the programme is delivered.

Duration: 6 Months
Structure: 2 Semesters × 3 Months
Mode: On-Campus | Virtual | Blended | In-House
Target Sector: Commercial Banks | Microfinance Institutions | Development Finance Institutions | Fintechs | Credit Unions | Leasing Companies | SACCOs | Investment & Finance Companies

Module 1: Principles of Lending & Credit Management

Key Topics

• Principles of responsible lending
• Role of credit in banking and financial intermediation
• Types of lending institutions
• Consumer, SME and corporate lending
• Secured and unsecured lending
• Short-, medium- and long-term lending
• Credit policies and lending standards
• Risk appetite and lending limits
• Lending ethics and professional conduct
• Credit lifecycle

Practical: Developing a basic institutional lending policy.

Module 2: Loan Origination & Credit Application

Key Topics

• Loan application process
• Customer identification and onboarding
• Purpose of borrowing
• Loan application documentation
• Borrower information requirements
• Credit interviews
• Source and use of funds
• Loan appraisal workflow
• Credit approval authorities
• Exception management
• Responsible lending
• KYC, AML and fraud considerations

The EBA framework specifically emphasizes robust governance and assessment of creditworthiness during loan origination and monitoring.

Practical: Conducting a simulated borrower interview and preparing a loan application.

Module 3: Financial Statement Analysis for Lending

Key Topics

• Understanding financial statements
• Income statement analysis
• Balance-sheet analysis
• Cash-flow analysis
• Working capital
• Profitability analysis
• Liquidity analysis
• Solvency
• Leverage
• Debt-service capacity
• Financial ratios
• Trend and comparative analysis
• Quality of earnings
• Identifying financial weaknesses

Practical: Analysing the financial statements of a prospective borrower.

Module 4: Borrower & Creditworthiness Analysis

Key Topics

• The 5Cs of credit
• Character assessment
• Capacity
• Capital
• Collateral
• Conditions
• Credit history
• Management quality
• Business model analysis
• Industry and sector risk
• Country and macroeconomic risk
• Existing financial commitments
• Cash-flow assessment
• Repayment capacity

International lending standards emphasize obtaining sufficient information to understand the borrower’s risk profile, financial condition, repayment capacity and the purpose and structure of credit.

Module 5: Credit Scoring, Risk Rating & Underwriting

Key Topics

• Credit scoring principles
• Behavioural scoring
• Application scoring
• Internal credit ratings
• Probability of default
• Risk grades
• Credit-risk segmentation
• Underwriting standards
• Automated credit decisions
• Manual underwriting
• Credit scorecards
• Override policies
• Model limitations
• Credit decision documentation

Practical: Building a simplified borrower credit scorecard.

Module 6: Loan Structuring, Pricing & Collateral

Key Topics

• Loan amount determination
• Loan tenor
• Interest-rate structures
• Repayment schedules
• Debt-service ratios
• Loan-to-value ratio
• Debt-to-equity ratio
• Covenants
• Collateral assessment
• Guarantees
• Security documentation
• Risk-based pricing
• Loan structuring techniques

The EBA’s creditworthiness framework considers factors such as income/cash flow, financial position, commitments, business plans, projections and collateral where relevant.

Semester I Applied Assignment

Complete Credit Analysis of a Borrower

Participants analyse a borrower and prepare:

1. Credit application
2. Financial analysis
3. Cash-flow assessment
4. Risk rating
5. Collateral assessment
6. Recommended facility
7. Lending conditions

Module 7: Credit Underwriting & Credit Decision-Making

Key Topics

• Credit appraisal process
• Credit memoranda
• Credit approval structures
• Delegated lending authorities
• Credit committees
• Approval conditions
• Credit exceptions
• Risk-adjusted lending
• Loan documentation
• Conditions precedent
• Disbursement controls
• Independent credit review

Practical: Credit committee simulation.

Module 8: Credit Administration & Loan Portfolio Management

Key Topics

• Loan documentation
• Loan disbursement
• Loan administration
• Repayment schedules
• Interest and fee administration
• Covenant management
• Collateral records
• Credit files
• Portfolio reporting
• Exposure limits
• Concentration risk
• Sector and geographic exposure

Basel principles emphasize effective credit administration, measurement and monitoring, including monitoring borrower condition, covenants, collateral coverage and payment performance.

Module 9: Credit Monitoring & Early Warning Systems

Key Topics

• Post-disbursement monitoring
• Borrower reviews
• Financial performance monitoring
• Covenant monitoring
• Payment behaviour
• Early-warning indicators
• Watch-list management
• Risk-rating migration
• Portfolio deterioration
• Stress testing
• Scenario analysis
• Remedial action

The EBA guidelines expect periodic credit reviews and updated borrower information to help identify deterioration in credit quality and early-warning signals.

Module 10: Non-Performing Loans, Collections & Recovery

Key Topics

• Loan delinquency
• Default identification
• Non-performing exposures
• Arrears management
• Collections strategies
• Restructuring and refinancing
• Workout strategies
• Recovery analysis
• Collateral realization
• Guarantees
• Legal recovery
• Write-offs
• Recovery performance measurement

Module 11: Credit Risk, Provisioning & Expected Credit Loss

Key Topics

• Individual and portfolio credit risk
• Probability of default
• Loss given default
• Exposure at default
• Expected credit loss
• Credit-risk staging concepts
• Provisioning principles
• Credit-risk concentration
• Portfolio stress testing
• Credit-risk reporting
• Regulatory capital considerations
• IFRS 9 concepts and expected-credit-loss approaches

The Basel framework treats credit exposure grading, classification, monitoring and provisioning as core elements of sound credit-risk management.

Module 12: Digital Lending, Credit Analytics & Capstone

Key Topics

• Digital lending
• Fintech credit models
• Alternative credit data
• Automated underwriting
• AI-assisted credit assessment
• Credit analytics
• Data-driven risk assessment
• Digital fraud risks
• Responsible use of AI
• Model risk
• Financial inclusion and responsible digital credit
• Future of lending

Integrated Credit Analysis Capstone

Participants undertake a complete simulated lending case involving:

Loan Application → Borrower Interview → Financial Analysis → Credit Scoring → Risk Rating → Cash-Flow Analysis → Collateral Assessment → Loan Structuring → Credit Recommendation → Credit Committee Presentation → Monitoring Plan

The programme is designed around three major international reference environments:

European Benchmarking

Aligned conceptually with EBA Guidelines on Loan Origination and Monitoring, particularly:

• Creditworthiness assessment
• Lending governance
• Loan origination
• Borrower information
• Credit monitoring
• Early-warning indicators
• Consumer protection
• AML considerations
• Management of credit throughout its lifecycle.

U.S. Benchmarking

The programme incorporates U.S.-style lending and underwriting concepts including:

• Verification of borrower financial condition
• Debt-service capacity
• Financial projections
• Underwriting discipline
• Credit documentation
• Risk-based credit decisions

U.S. regulatory underwriting frameworks emphasize documented borrower financial information and analysis of the ability to service debt.

International/Basel Benchmarking

The programme reflects the Basel Committee’s current principles covering:

1. Appropriate credit-risk environment
2. Sound credit-granting process
3. Credit administration and monitoring
4. Adequate credit-risk controls

The Basel framework also emphasizes credit policies, borrower assessment, credit files, portfolio diversification, exposure limits and early identification of problem exposures.

The programme uses a practical credit-professional training model.

• 25% — Expert Instruction: International lending principles, credit methodologies and regulatory concepts.
• 25% — Financial & Credit Analysis: Actual and simulated borrower financial statements, ratios and cash-flow analysis.
• 20% — Case Studies: Consumer, SME, corporate and international lending cases.
• 15% — Simulations: Credit interviews, underwriting exercises and credit committee simulations.
• 15% — Applied Projects: Credit memoranda, loan proposals, risk-rating exercises and the final capstone.

Participants are assessed through a combination of knowledge, analytical and practical assessments.

Participants should demonstrate the ability to analyse, interpret, structure and recommend credit, rather than simply recall lending theory.

Graduates will be prepared for entry-level and developing professional roles in credit, lending and financial-services environments.

Potential Job Titles

• Credit Analyst
• Lending Officer
• Credit Officer
• Loan Officer
• Credit Underwriting Officer
• Credit Administration Officer
• Credit Risk Assistant
• Relationship Officer
• SME Lending Officer
• Retail Lending Officer
• Corporate Lending Assistant
• Credit Portfolio Assistant
• Loan Review Officer
• Collections Officer
• Credit Monitoring Officer
• Microfinance Credit Officer
• Fintech Credit Analyst

Potential Employment Sectors

• Commercial banks
• Central and development finance institutions
• Microfinance institutions
• SACCOs and credit unions
• Fintech companies
• Digital lenders
• Mortgage institutions
• Leasing companies
• Insurance finance operations
• Development banks
• Investment and finance companies
• Government lending institutions
• SME finance institutions

Consumer finance companies

The qualification is designed to provide transferable competencies applicable across:

Africa | Europe | Middle East | Asia | North America | Emerging Markets

The strongest professional value is in roles requiring practical competence in credit analysis, lending decisions, underwriting and portfolio monitoring.

IBSF INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATE IN LENDING & CREDIT ANALYSIS

Duration: 6 Months | 2 Semesters | 3 Months Each

The strongest professional value is in roles requiring practical competence in credit analysis, lending decisions, underwriting and portfolio monitoring.