Book on Nigeria’s Financial Strategy 2020 launched

Book on Nigeria’s Financial Strategy 2020 launched
Hauwa Noroh Alii, Abuja

The World Bank has launched its recently published book: “Achieving Nigeria’s Financial System Strategy 2020 – Making Finance Work for Nigeria,” as part of efforts aimed at reducing poverty, improving living conditions and building an efficient formal financial system capable of intermediating and supporting economic activities to foster growth and support Nigeria’s developmental goals.

The Country Director, Onno Ruhl, in his remarks said: "Nigeria deserves to be one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020 and this report provides a roadmap towards achieving that”.

Lead Economist at the World Bank, Ismail Radwan said that  the book “making finance work for Nigeria considers the tremendous transformation that Nigeria’s financial system has undergone in recent years, and is a product of a long-standing and fruitful collaboration between Nigeria’s’ financial sector regulators and  the World Bank.

Necessary economic reforms

He said that Nigeria’s Financial System Strategy 2020 (FSS2020) and reforms that were already underway were part of a wider reform program spanning key areas of the economy, stating clearly, the vision laid out by Nigeria’s aspirations to have the safest and fastest growing financial system amongst emerging countries by2020.

Lead Financial Sector Specialist Micheal Fush said that FSS2020 is an entirely home-grown initiative, with the CBN inviting sectorial experts to provide suggestions for improvements in the banking sector, rural finance, SME finance, capital markets, housing finance insurance, pensions, infrastructure finance, corporate insolvency and the payments and remittance systems.

The event was attended by various key stakeholders among whom are the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Ms Arunma Oteh; Mr M.K Ahmad, the Director General of the Pension Commission, (PENCOM); Deputy Governor of the CBN, and coordinator of FSS2020y Mr Walter Ahrey, Director Strategy, CBN.

Williams