Lagos – The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank, on Tuesday said that the corporation’s investment in Nigeria banking sector stood at 1.2 billion dollars (N237.6 billion).
Mrs Eme Essien Lore, the Country Manager, IFC Nigeria, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
She said that the corporation’s commitment in the banking system in the last fiscal year, from July 2014 to June 2015, exceeded 1.2 billion dollars.
Lore told NAN that the support was in long and short-term financing, adding that the corporation would continue to support the country’s financial industry.
She said that IFC’s effort was beyond providing financing, noting that building financial infrastructure was critical to ensuring more Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) accessed finance.
Lore said that the corporation supported the creation of the Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria and is working with them on a regulatory framework for credit reporting.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
“We are looking forward to launching the movable assets collateral registry with CBN.
“Around the world, we have seen that a solid secured transactions system is a critical success factor in providing access to finance to MSMEs,’’ Lore said.
She said that IFC was also working with the apex bank on an Environmental Performance and market development programme to achieve increased uptake of sustainable lending standards by financial institutions in Nigeria.
“The programme is a long term intervention to drive standards at a market level to support improved sustainable lending practices of financial institutions and ultimately improved social and environmental performance of financial institutions.’’
She expressed confidence in the nation’s financial system, noting that Nigerian banks were better suited to withstand external shocks than they were in 2008.
“Nigerian banks have come a long way since the 2008/2009 crises with improvements in risk management practices and governance structures.
“The current macro-economic environment will be challenging for any country but, despite the room for improvement, Nigerian banks are much better suited to withstand external shocks than they were in 2008,’’ Lore said. (NAN)
