Commissioning Of Bankers House Of Chartered Institute Of Bankers Of Nigeria, CIBN On 03/03/2022

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SPEECH DELIVERED BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE OFFICIAL COMMISSIONING OF THE BANKERS HOUSE OF THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF BANKERS OF NIGERIA, CIBN, IN ABUJA ON THE 3^RD OF MARCH, 2022

PROTOCOLS

Dr. Bayo Olugbemi and the Executive and Management of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN, thank you for the kind invitation to join you today in the commissioning of the Bankers House, Abuja.

I am happy to see the CIBN’s almost eight-year vision to establish a presence in the Federal Capital Territory eventually come alive in this magnificent edifice, one indeed befitting of the Institute’s stature.

But perhaps more poignantly a towering expression of your enduring commitment to excellence and to delivering value to the Nigerian economy. It is clear, from what we see here today, the power a collective vision has in driving significant accomplishment. And that is why we put such a great premium on the resourcefulness and strength of our private sector.

The CIBN’s role in the private sector cannot be overstated. In laying the parameters for professional and ethical conduct, healthy competition, and continuous professional development, it has helped to guide the evolution of a banking industry that has grown to become the envy of the continent.

Today, Nigeria is primed and ready for new depths of economic growth and development. With a population constituting the largest market on the continent, swelling demography of ambitious, tech-savvy young people, accelerating regional integration and connection to new markets, we are presented with an unprecedented opportunity to launch the country into a new decade of sustained prosperity. An opportunity we are fully committed, as a government, to translating into lived realities for millions of Nigerians across the country.

We understand what the challenges are and have continued to meet them head-on. We also understand that the realization of our country’s potential, at this crucial moment, will require the careful choreography of government policies that remove every impediment in the way of those determined to pursue their dreams and build businesses.

This is why in the past six years we have aggressively pursued, under the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), the creation of an environment that allows Nigerian businesses, at every level, operate without the bottlenecks and drawbacks that have come to characterize their interface with agencies and regulators.

Building on the progress of these reforms and aggregating lessons from some of the setbacks in its implementation, we doubled down on PEBEC on the 7th of February with the 7th 60-day National Action Plan (NAP 7.0) on the Ease of Doing Business, which is programmed to run until the 7th of April 2022.

We will consolidate on the achievements in the removal of regulatory constraints around agro-exports, driving electronic filing of taxes and working closely with the States to make their own business environments friendlier.

Historically government has never lacked good plans and so we understand the scepticism that sometimes attends the unveiling of new ones. But we are committed to following through and to the demonstration of good faith every step of the way. There is too much at stake here. This largely informs the zeal that has attended the ongoing implementation of our new National Development Plan, 2021-2025, a medium-term agenda that seeks to, among other things, generate 21 million full-time jobs and lift 35 million people out of poverty by 2025.

The plan commits the government, at all levels, to an investment of about N49.7 trillion, and envisages private sector investment of N298 trillion, making a total of N348trillion. So clearly the success of the Plan depends greatly on a conscious reliance on private enterprise and initiative.

The federal government has stepped out in front of this with robust investments in critical infrastructure, including roads, rail, power, and broadband. Last year, in our bid to close the current infrastructure deficit, which is estimated at about $300 billion, we launched the N15 trillion Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria with an initial seed capital of N1 trillion.

The implementation of the plan is expected to be supported by a range of fiscal, monetary and trade measures, including more intentionally promoting productivity and value addition.

Our country is set for great heights; we are a nation of great dreamers and great doers.

Every time Nigeria has been expected to sink, we have soared and risen beyond our troubles. We have drawn joy from the depths of despair and found the courage to keep going even in the most daunting of challenges.

The Nigerian spirit remains unfazed and persistently bankable. Despite several years of some of the most severe macroeconomic challenges, including the 2008 financial crisis, the oil crises that followed, and an unexpected pandemic, the Nigerian banking industry, owing largely to your outstanding professionalism, has continued to show incredible resilience and growth, contributing about N34.6 trillion to the country’s GDP in 2017, N37.8 trillion in 2018, N42.7 trillion in 2019 and N53.3 trillion in 2020.

In 2021, African tech startups raised over $4billion in funding with over 564 startups across the continent solving critical problems in almost every sector. Nigeria accounted for 35% of this. Nigeria today has six unicorns, tech companies valued at over 1 billion dollars. All of them started after 2015, and have grown between two recessions.

The CIBN has remained through thick and thin, a professional organization that believes completely in the strength, potential and future of the Nigerian economy. You have been faithful partners for decades in this country’s economic journey and we are all immensely proud of the work of the institute and its direct and indirect impact on Nigeria’s development.

So today we join in celebrating the success of a patriotic and Nigeria centric organization the CIBN.

I congratulate Dr. Bayo Olugbemi and his wonderful team for their vision and determined execution, and I invite you to join me in a moment as we cut the ribbon to officially commission this building.

Thank you.