The effect of a robust infrastructure on the Nigerian banking sector will be enormous even as technology evolves globally. This is the belief of the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo at the 14th Annual Banking & Finance Conference themed: “Economic Recovery Inclusion And Transformation: The Role of Banking & Finance” and organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
Speaking at the event that held simultaneously in Lagos and Abuja via virtual and physical participations, Prof Osinbajo noted that banks have a wide array of areas to invest and develop.
He, however, regretted that the banks were not doing enough in supporting the federal government’s efforts in the areas of housing and electricity as a result of poor funding.
“It is either the finance sector is shy to invest in housing projects, or have not found the right housing finance model that will work for them. Nigeria deos not have a functional mortgage housing system, which is the most reliable source of generating capital for individuals.
“Banks should come up with innovations such as housing financing, by supporting poverty reduction and economic growth. Ubiquitous housing, for example, will create employment and generate demand for related services,” Prof Osinbajo encouraged.
He also noted that banks should work with the federal government to address issues associated to climate change.
“One of the cheap considerations, especially for developing countries is how to move from fossil fuel-based power sources to renewable energy. It is a significant challenge and an enormous opportunity for developing countries,” he said.
Vice President Osinbajo challenged banks to step up on their game, especially as digitisation is becoming a global trend and the way of the future.
In his speech, the governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Sanwo-Olu, expressed his optimism that the Nigerian banking system will play a role of economic recovery after the pandemic, just like the World Bank and the IFC did after the Second World War. “This is the same kind of transformative role that the Nigerian banking sector is expected to play in the era of Covid-19.”
While applauding the CBN for disbursing more than 400 billion naira to over 600,000 persons as loan facilities to help households cope with the impact of the pandemic, Governor Sanwo-Olu noted that building infrastructures by banks will also breed financial inclusiveness to the communities that are currently disenfranchised.
The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr. Godwin Emefiele said the Apex bank, in collaboration with financial institutions are putting structures in place to buoy the sector, and make it achieve its goals of financial inclusiveness. One of such structures is the Nigerian International Financial Center (NIFC) which will kick off operations in 2023. He observed that 26% of adult Nigerians do not have financial inclusion, and assured that the CBN is doing all it can to ensure that bring the figure to the barest.
He also talked about the special financial support vehicle, the Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria (Infracop) that was established by the CBN, and noted that it will raise funds to support infrastructure.
In his words: “We are all aware of the criticality of infrastructure in fostering economic growth, yet Nigeria still has a huge gap to fill in this regard. That is why we believe that the banking system must pay attention to providing long term finance for infrastructure development of our country.”
The President, Muhammadu Buhari, had earlier in his speech pointed out that the federal government has been promoting economic boosters with initiatives in the Agriculture, banking and finance, among others.
