Assessing Knowledge Management Systems in Nigerian Commercial Banks

Commercial banks in Nigeria manage vast institutional knowledge assets across customer intelligence, risk analytics, regulatory compliance, and product development domains, yet the knowledge management systems and practices in place to capture, organise, and leverage this knowledge are incompletely evaluated in professional literature. This study assesses knowledge management system practices and maturity in Nigerian commercial banks. A structured questionnaire covering five knowledge management dimensions (knowledge creation, capture, organisation, sharing, and application) adapted from the APO Knowledge Management Assessment Tool was administered to knowledge management officers, IT managers, and senior analysts at 18 commercial banks across Lagos and Abuja. Findings indicate that knowledge creation processes are strongest (mean score 3.6 out of 5.0), while systematic knowledge capture and retention from departing staff are weakest (mean 2.1). Formal communities of practice exist in 28 percent of banks. Knowledge portals are deployed by 55 percent, but content currency and completeness are rated as inadequate by their administrators in 60 percent of cases. Banks with higher knowledge management maturity scores show significantly lower loan processing times and higher cross-selling ratios. The study recommends that Nigerian commercial banks adopt structured knowledge retention programmes for expert staff, invest in AI-enabled knowledge graph tools for customer intelligence, and develop formal knowledge management governance committees at board level.

Keywords: knowledge management, commercial banks, Nigeria, knowledge systems, organisational learning