By Opeyemi Adelakun
The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria has warned that improvements in Nigeria’s macroeconomic indicators must translate into tangible benefits for households and businesses to have meaningful impact on citizens.
President and Chairman of Council of the CIBN, Dr Dele Alabi, gave the warning on Tuesday at the opening of the institute’s 19th Annual Banking and Finance Conference in Abuja.
Alabi said economic stability should not be regarded as the final achievement of the country’s ongoing reforms, stressing that the ultimate measure of progress is how such reforms affect the daily lives of Nigerians.
He said the gains recorded in the broader economy must result in lower living costs, increased employment, higher real incomes, affordable access to credit, improved public services and a reduction in poverty.
According to him, the next phase of the reform process should focus on ensuring that improvements at the macroeconomic level are effectively transmitted to households, businesses and other productive sectors.
He said, “They are milestones, not the destination. The true test is whether stronger fundamentals translate into lower living costs, more jobs, higher real incomes, affordable credit, reliable public services and reduced poverty.
“Macroeconomic progress must, therefore, be felt at the micro level in households, small businesses and the daily lives of ordinary Nigerians. Our task is to build systems that learn, adapt and emerge stronger.”
Alabi said the CIBN conference was designed to advance the institute’s IMPACT Vision, which he unveiled after assuming office in May.
He also highlighted the institute’s advocacy for scalable small and medium enterprise hubs across the country, describing the initiative as part of efforts to address the difficulties confronting micro, small and medium enterprises.
He listed high operating costs, inadequate infrastructure, limited market access, low productivity, skills shortages and slow digital adoption among the challenges facing MSMEs.
Also speaking at the conference, Lead Private Sector Development Specialist at the World Bank’s Nigeria Office, Ms Bertine Kamphuis, represented by the bank’s Division Director for Nigeria, Dr Mathew Verghis, said private-sector credit remained inadequate.
Kamphuis called on banks to increase financing for sectors capable of generating employment, particularly agriculture, manufacturing and MSMEs.
She noted that between three and four million young Nigerians enter the labour market annually, making increased access to productive credit critical to job creation and economic expansion.
President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, similarly challenged banks to reassess their approach to risk and become more active in financing productive activities.
Tinubu said bank profitability and balance-sheet expansion should no longer be the only measures of success, arguing that financial institutions must contribute more directly to the real economy.
“For years, we have measured financial institutions by balance-sheet growth, profitability and shareholder returns. These remain important. But we must increasingly ask: what is the financial system doing for the real economy?” he said.
The President said businesses should be able to obtain affordable credit while manufacturers and MSMEs should have access to financing needed to expand production and create jobs.
He said Nigeria had regained economic stability and was attracting increased investor confidence, but cautioned that stability should not be confused with prosperity.
Tinubu said the next phase of reforms should convert economic stability into investment, investment into production, production into jobs and economic growth into improved living standards.
He also said the ongoing bank recapitalisation programme must go beyond strengthening financial institutions’ balance sheets and result in increased capital formation and financing for Nigerian businesses.
In his goodwill message, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Olayemi Cardoso, represented by Deputy Governor Philip Ikeazor, said the substantial capital raised by banks during the recapitalisation exercise demonstrated the depth of capital available domestically.
Cardoso urged banks to deploy the increased capital towards financing the real sectors of the economy to accelerate growth and improve living standards.
He also called for stronger collaboration between state governments, the CBN and fiscal authorities to tackle inflation, expressing confidence that single-digit inflation could be achieved through coordinated efforts.
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