“Nigeria will be the envy of many countries”, CBN governor
Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, spoke about his achievements during the 30th Nigerian Economic Summit.
The Nigerian Economic Summit themed: Collaborative Action for Growth, Competitiveness, and Stability held between 14th to 16th October 2024 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Cardoso began by commending the National Economic Summit Group, “I have had the privilege in the past year of interacting with the leadership. I commend them for the work so far, and I challenge them to just continue in that regard.”
Cardoso stated that although there’s a lot more to be done in managing the country’s monetary policy, ensuring price stability, and managing inflation; the Central Bank of Nigeria is taking steps in the right direction. “Our goal continues to be that of stabilising our economy and the macroeconomic fundamentals; that continues to be our goal. And we will not relent in ensuring that we can appropriately manage inflation in a direction that certainly serves the well-being of everybody.”
When asked about how he includes women in the operations of CBN, Cardoso mentioned that he made a commitment to advancing the roles of the female gender during his senate screening, “And the reason was because of my previous experiences. I had done several things that significantly empowered women in the boardroom in particular and in other spheres of life. I believe women provide a very major and significant portion of the workforce, and indeed capacity, and indeed what we see, not just in Nigeria but in many parts of Africa, is the role that women have played, quietly but effectively, is something that certainly needs to be encouraged and resources put into.”
“In terms of policies to the outside, we are committed to ensuring that we encourage the banking industry, and I must say that banks are at different stages of managing their own internal processes towards bridging the gender gap. I think the awareness is there, and it’s going to be a commitment towards driving in that direction; it won’t happen overnight.”
“A lot of these come from leadership, and I think that you can rest assured that under my watch, I will do what is necessary to ensure that we can give the necessary impetus to women entrepreneurs, for example. And I must tell you that a week or so ago the Central Bank of Nigeria signed a code for Women Entrepreneurs Financing, and we are going to implement a framework that will hopefully lead to greater financial inclusion for women within the country. We partnered with the Development Bank of Nigeria and the Bank of Industry. So between the three of us, we are committed to advancing, and rest assured that you have reliable partners and stakeholders.”
Cardoso concluded with this, “I think the point is that we need to focus on ensuring that we do the right things and put our focus on the ball, and then in the not too distant future, you’ll be head and shoulders above others.”
“If Nigeria can do those things, and we did a long time ago, I think nobody can match us. That does not mean that it will take 10 to 15 years; I don’t think that’s the issue if they are all saying that we are on the right track, and I believe that we are. I do know that if we continue the way we are, we will find that life will be much more bearable and that if we continue beyond the short term, certainly Nigeria will be the envy of many countries.”
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