Lack of access to investment capital hindering growth in key sectors – Emefiele

A lack of access to cheap investment capital is a bane to the growth of Nigeria’s key economic sectors,  the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, says.

He said this at the 56th Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) annual Bankers’ Dinner in Lagos over the weekend.

Emefiele noted that to tap into this funding pool to drive growth in the key sectors, there was a need to institute an “investment framework” that would provide potential investors a blanket of “comfort”.

“A key challenge to supporting growth in key sectors of our economy is access to a large pool of cheap investment capital,” Emefiele said.

He added that “Today, over $100 trillion is held by institutional investors in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, most of which invested in low-yielding assets relative to high-yielding opportunities in Nigeria.

“Working to tap into this pool of funds will require the set-up of an investment framework that offers comfort and security to investors seeking to invest in critical sectors of our economy.”

At the event, he also disclosed that the International Financial Centre (IFC) would commence operations in the second quarter of 2022.

On the recently launched e-Naira, the CBN governor said that more and more people were downloading the application, with the current download figure at 600,000.

He attributed the rapid adoption of the digital currency to support from players in the financial industry, noting that, “Efforts are ongoing to encourage faster adoption of the e-Naira by Nigerians who do not have smartphones.

“The support of the financial industry will be critical in the ongoing deployment of the e-Naira and efforts are ongoing to encourage continued partnership between the CBN and stakeholders in the financial industry.”