Tuesday, January 26, 2021 / 6:04PM / Bukola Akinyele- Yisau for WebTV / Header Image Credit: Twitter; @cibnigeria Proshare Nigeria Pvt. Ltd. The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in collaboration with Biodun Adedipe Associates Consulting services hosted its 7th National Economic conference that explored the topic "Implications of Policies on Businesses in Nigeria in 2021" which brought together technocrats, experts, analysts, and policy advisors with Mr. Yomi Olugbenro Partner & West Africa Tax Leader, Deloitte as moderator.
In his remarks, Ambassador Ayoola Olukanni, the DG NACCIMA, speaking on the performance of the economy in 2020, acknowledged that the previous year was a tough one but towards the end of the year there was some improvement in the area of government support in terms of COVID19 funds released by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Ambassador Olukanni highlighted that the economic challenges would continue but it would open a vista of opportunities for Nigerians. He said, there was a need to look into the current economic sustainability plan, which had several components such as the N75bn MSME survival fund that could ease the challenges faced by the small and medium-sized enterprise sector.
The former Nigerian envoy to Australia urged the CIBN to encourage its members and the banking sector to consider developing mining portfolios for financing and investments.
On his part, Mr. Patrick Akinwutan the CEO Ecobank Nigeria speaking on the trends that emerged despite the crisis in 2020 and what to look out for in 2021, said the previous year was shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic which constituted a major economic challenge. He said "Global dislocation shows that we need to focus on Africa as a common market. We need to look out for opportunities in 2021 with the AfCFTA. In Nigeria, the CBN came up with key policies and an accommodative stance that ensured that businesses are supported through the challenge of the lockdowns and the economic disruption of 2020".
The Ecobank Nigeria CEO speaking further stated that Nigeria with over 200m inhabitants with an economy of over $450bn needs to become a productive and export-based economy, to create employment and power entrepreneurs so that it can take its rightful place as a global player.
According to him, 2020 was a major shift for Nigeria as access to finance became cheaper and electronic banking in the country improved recording 42% growth compared to 2019. The growth occurred because Nigerian banks, and FinTechs all […]