CBN to Construct New International Finance Centre at Eko Atlantic City by 2nd quarter of 2022

The Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) under the leadership of The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, said that the greatest bank would set up an International Financial Centre at the Eko Atlantic City by the second quarter of 2022, meant for investors seeking to invest in critical sectors of the economy. The Centre, which would serve as a gateway for funds and investments into Nigeria, will be driven by technology and payment system infrastructure.

The CBN Governor, made this announcement while speaking at the 56th Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Annual Bankers Dinner in Lagos. According to Emefiele, a Huge supply of international investment was locked in less profitable assets instead of highly profitable resources in Nigeria. He said creating a viable investment framework will help build an attractive environment for investors.

He identified lack of access to large pools of cheap investment capital as a key constraint to supporting growth in critical sectors of the Nigerian economy, pointing out that the IFC will seek to address this challenge.

The CBN Governor Emefiele, in his address at the August gathering said, “Today over $100 trillion is held by institutional investors in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, most of it invested in low-yielding assets relative to high-yielding opportunities in Nigeria. And 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.”

He continued to briefly Highlights that,“ As a resultof this, the Central Bank of Nigeria is working to set up an International Financial Center at the Eko Atlantic City in Lagos that will serve as a hub for attracting domestic and external capital which is needed to strengthen our post-COVID economy”.

The CBN Governor Emefiele further stated that Leveraging the strength of the private sector will be critical in mobilising funds that are needed toward building a more resilient and stronger economy. We intend to strengthen collaborations with the private sector to support investments in critical sectors such as infrastructure, and ICT, in addition to ongoing efforts to build a stronger agriculture and manufacturing base in Nigeria.

“As a result, all efforts in 2022 must be made to ensure that we maintain our focus on improving access to finance and credit for households and businesses, mobilising investment to boost domestic productivity, enabling faster growth of non-oil exports, and supporting employment generating activities,”.

Commenting on the recently introduced 100 for 100 policy on production and productivity, he reiterated that the programme targets credit of up to N5 billion to be provided to 100 firms every 100 days, provided that the firms are investing in projects that are Greenfield projects

Additionally, Nigeria as a nation with population growth at about 2.7 per cent annually, it is therefore important that we continue to create measures that will enable our economy to attain annual growth rates of over five per cent. It can be recalled that, Through the pandemic, we

Therefore the planned International Finance Center, at Eko Atlantic City Nigeria, when fully operational in the 2nd quarter of 2022, will help to position Nigeria as a key destination for investment in Africa. are aware that Nigeria policy responses are often more effective when it work with the private sector. For example, the CACOVID alliance played an instrumental role in reducing the negative effects of the pandemic, by providing palliative support to families affected by the virus and in rebuilding our healthcare institutions