Modelled after New York, London and Singapore financial powerhouses, Nigeria is to establish the Nigerian International Financial Centre (NIFC).
This financial house to be established and driven by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will come on stream in the next 12 months.
The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele disclosed this on Tuesday at the 14th Annual Banking and Finance Conference holding on Abuja.
The theme of the conference is “Economic Recovery, Inclusion and Transformation: The role of banking & finance”.
Emefiele said: “The Central Bank, will, in the next 12 months be establishing The Nigerian International Financial Centre (NIFC). The NIFC will act as an international gateway for Capital and investments, driven by technology and payment system infrastructure.
“This new financial hub, will curate local and international banks to make them global champions. The NIFC will be a 24/7 Financial centre that will complement London, New York and Singapore financial centers and enable an acceleration of our home grown initiatives such as the Infracorp plc, the N15 Trillion infrastructure fund which we will be launching in October 2021” he said.
He said the NIFC will also complement our initiatives on the Nigerian Commodity exchange and the National Theatre creative hubs for our youths as well as the E-naira project, which will also debut in October 2021.”
He stated further that “the NIFC will take advantage of our existing laws such as the BOFIA 2020, NEPZA and other CBN regulations to create a fully global investment and financial hub where monies, ideas, and technology will move freely without hindrance.”
The CBN Governor assured that Nigeria’s “robust payment system has continued to evolve towards meeting the needs of households and businesses in Nigeria. Reflective of the confidence in our payment system, between 2015 and 2020, close to $500m worth of funds have been invested in firms run by Nigerian founders.”
He also said the CBN is working to depeen Financial inclusion.
