President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has charged Nigeria’s banking and financial services industry to move beyond balance-sheet expansion and channel more capital into businesses, production and job creation, saying the next phase of the country’s economic reforms must convert macroeconomic stability into tangible improvements in living standards.
Tinubu, spoke Tuesday at the opening ceremony of a two-day 19th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Abuja, themed “Building a Resilient Economy in an Era of Disruptions: Strategic Imperatives for the Banking and Financial Services Industry.”
He said the country could not achieve sustainable prosperity if financial institutions continued to prioritise government securities and short-term returns over productive investment.
The President, represented by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the banking sector had a central role to play in translating recent economic reforms into stronger businesses, increased production and employment.
He said, “We must move from intermediation to transformation,” stressing that the success of the financial system should increasingly be measured by what it contributes to the real economy rather than only by balance-sheet growth, profitability and shareholder returns.
According to him, the government’s reforms were beginning to produce stronger macroeconomic indicators, with the economy recording 4.43 per cent real growth in the second quarter of 2026.
He also said Nigeria’s GDP in US dollar terms had grown by about 17 per cent in the first half of 2026, while the country’s external reserves had risen above $54 billion, describing the figure as the highest level in 18 years.
Tinubu said the foreign exchange market had also become more functional, recalling the difficulties businesses and individuals faced in accessing foreign currency under the previous system.
He noted that businesses had previously struggled to source foreign exchange for imported inputs and equipment, while some airlines could not repatriate their earnings and Nigerians faced restrictions on international card transactions.
“Stability has returned. Credibility is rising. And prosperity is coming,” the President declared, while cautioning that improved macroeconomic stability should not be mistaken for economic prosperity.
“Stability is a foundation, prosperity is a destination,” he said.
Tinubu said the government’s immediate task was therefore to accelerate the transmission of reforms from improved national economic indicators to investment, production, jobs and household incomes.
He said the banking industry would be critical to achieving that objective, particularly through greater access to affordable credit for manufacturers, small businesses and entrepreneurs.
The President said the government was expanding the architecture of guarantees, risk-sharing, blended finance and credit enhancement, with the National Credit Guarantee Company expected to play a central role in mobilising private capital into productive activities.
He said the objective was to ensure that government intervention catalysed private investment rather than leaving the government as the primary financier of economic activity.
“Let me move from how much government spends to how much productive capital it catalyses,” he said.
Tinubu identified growth facilitation, financial inclusion, technology, long-term capital and trust as five critical imperatives for building a resilient financial system capable of supporting Nigeria’s economic transformation.
On bank recapitalisation, he said the recently concluded exercise should result in more than bigger balance sheets, insisting that the additional capital must translate into increased financing for Nigerian businesses seeking to expand.
“A bigger bank that does not finance a more productive economy is a suboptimal outcome,” he said.
The President also challenged banks to broaden access to finance beyond customers with conventional collateral, arguing that viable businesses and entrepreneurs should be assessed based on their potential and cash flows.
He said true financial inclusion should enable market women to obtain working capital at reasonable costs and allow young entrepreneurs to access credit without necessarily possessing conventional collateral.
Tinubu further warned that the rapid digitalisation of financial services was creating new vulnerabilities, particularly in cybersecurity, data protection and fraud.
He described cybersecurity as part of financial stability infrastructure, saying resilience in the financial sector must now encompass protection against digital threats alongside capital adequacy.
He also called for greater mobilisation of long-term capital through the capital market, pension, insurance and asset-management sectors, noting that infrastructure, housing, energy and industrial development could not be financed predominantly with short-term funds.
The President said Nigeria must also make itself more competitive for global capital because investors would ultimately direct funds to markets offering attractive risk-adjusted returns.
He said government would progressively create more room for private-sector credit as fiscal conditions improve, outlining a cycle in which fiscal discipline would reduce government financing pressure, lower inflation would support lower interest rates, and cheaper capital would stimulate investment and production.
Higher production, he added, would create jobs, incomes and additional tax revenues, reinforcing fiscal sustainability.
At the conference, CIBN President and Chairman of Council, Dele Alabi, said the next phase of Nigeria’s reforms must focus on transmitting macroeconomic gains to businesses and households.
Alabi said 33 banks had met the revised minimum capital requirements, with N4.65 trillion in new capital raised, providing an additional buffer against domestic and external shocks.
He said the real test of economic reforms was whether improved fundamentals would result in lower living costs, more jobs, higher real incomes, affordable credit and reduced poverty.
“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,” he said.
Alabi advocated the development of scalable SME hubs nationwide to provide shared infrastructure, business advisory services, technology support, market linkages and improved access to finance.
He said such hubs could help reduce operating costs, improve the bankability of small and medium-sized enterprises and connect recapitalised banks more effectively with the real sector.
Also, Thompson Oludare Sunday, the NDIC Managing Director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) stressed the need to protect depositor confidence as Nigeria navigates technological, geopolitical and economic disruptions.
Represented at the event by Mrs. Emily Chidinma Osuji, Executive Director, Corporate Services, the Managing Director in a goodwill message said resilience required strong institutions, effective risk management, sound corporate governance, operational preparedness and the capacity to respond to emerging threats.
He said depositor confidence remained a critical foundation of financial stability, while effective deposit insurance, robust supervision and orderly bank resolution mechanisms were essential components of the financial safety net.
The NDIC boss further warned that digital transformation, although capable of deepening financial inclusion, was introducing new risks relating to cybersecurity, data protection, fraud and operational resilience.
He called for closer collaboration among regulators, banks, fintech operators, payment service providers and professional bodies to ensure that innovation did not undermine the safety and integrity of the financial system.
SOURCE: Independent
