Banks contribute N168.4tr in 4 years
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Banks contributed N168.4 trillion to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the four years between 2017 and 2020, evidence of their vital role in economic growth expressed through Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) intervention in multiple sectors.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed the figure in Abuja when he commissioned the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Bankers House and the Alliance of African Institute of Bankers (AAIOB) Permanent Secretariat.
“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,” he said.
The industry, he added, contributed “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.”
__________________________________________________________________
Related articles:
Zenith Bank with N789b leads FUGAZ as most valued
Access Bank makes N46.25b from e-business, leads FUGAZ
Banks close 234 branches, 649 ATMs, reduce access score
Agbaje laments Nigerian banks can’t fund Shell assets acquisition
__________________________________________________________________
Nigeria accounts for 35% of African startup investment
“In 2021 African tech startups raised over $4 billion in funding with over 564 startups across the continent solving critical problems in almost every sector,” Osinbajo reiterated, per reporting by The Nation.
“Nigeria accounted for 35 per cent of this and today the country has six unicorns, tech companies valued at over $1 billion. All of them started after 2015, and have grown between two recessions.”
He said Nigeria is primed and ready for new depths of economic development and growth.
“With a population constituting the largest market on the continent, a 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.”