The GIMPA Enterprise Risk Management (GERM) unit, under the auspices of the Governing Council, the Rector, and Central Administration, on Friday, 18 September 2026, organised a Risk Identification and Management Training at the GIMPA Executive Conference Centre (GECC). The training brought together Deans, Directors and Heads of Units, who serve as risk owners, together with staff working under them who have been designated as Risk Champions, to build institutional capacity for identifying, assessing, managing, monitoring and reporting risks across the Institute.
The training was in line with GIMPA’s Risk Management Policy and Strategy, and formed part of ongoing efforts to embed a strong risk culture across all Schools, Directorates and Units of the Institute.
Delivering a presentation on the general overview of enterprise risk management, Prof. Francis Atsu, Head of GERM unit, took participants through key concepts including risk appetite, risk tolerance, risk capacity, risk identification and assessment, He further touched on the roles and responsibilities of risk owners and risk champions in embedding risk management practices within their respective directorates and units.
Prof. Atsu emphasised that effective risk management was not a one-off exercise but a continuous process that required the active participation of every unit within the Institute. “Risk management is not about eliminating uncertainty; it is about making sure that when uncertainty shows up, GIMPA is ready for it,” he said, urging participants to see their risk registers as living documents rather than a one-time compliance exercise.
He also noted that “every Dean, Director and Head of Unit is, in effect, a risk manager for their area,”. Speaking on the role of the Risk Champions present, he remarked that “champions are the bridge between policy and practice,” explaining that while risk owners set the direction, it was the champions who keep the day-to-day work of identifying and tracking risks moving forward.
Following the presentation, participants took part in a practical, hands-on session to develop and update live risk registers for their respective Schools, Directorates and Units. This exercise paired risk owners with their Risk Champions, allowing them to jointly apply the concepts discussed to the specific risks facing their areas, and ensuring that the outputs of the training translate directly into actionable risk management tools.
The training is part of a series of engagements planned to strengthen risk management practices across the Institute.
