President/Chairman, Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Prof. Benedict Oramah has called for the creation of a ‘Domestic Financial System’ that would encourage and attract foreign banks into Nigeria. This is as the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Afreximbank Academy for capacity building and certification programmes on trade and finance.
Oramah made this call at the made CIBN Annual Lecture with the theme: “Unlocking the Constraints to Africa’s Economic Transformation: Insights into the Power of Capital,” in Lagos.
According to him, the share of foreign of banks in Nigeria is below 20 per cent but is not the same in other African countries and he further advocates that there should be collaboration with African banks holding a majority stake in the sector.
He said: “it is, therefore, important that we build a Domestic Financial System that welcomes foreign banks but which, as a deliberate policy, must have the strong participation of Africa-owned banks.’’
Oramah said: “There can be no better explanation as to why Africa became a continent of atomistic and fragmented state. For decades, Africa could not trade amongst itself and Africans could hardly invest across borders and its natural resources could not accumulate the capital needed to finance its development. It is that strategy that explains why the African banking system is dominated by foreign banks and, therefore, unable to act as an agent for capital accumulation within Africa.”
On his part, President/Chairman of CIBN, Dr Ken Opara, noted that unlocking the constraints to Nigeria’s economic transformation would certainly impact the entire continent as the country was considered Africa’s biggest economy,
“Currently, Nigeria is considered Africa’s biggest economy, and this is why some people believe that Africa’s chances of prosperity completely lie in the hands of this country, “he said.
