Banking, payments and investment executives have highlighted the importance of Nigeria’s financial stability gains, pointing to policy continuity and stronger market infrastructure as foundations for sustained confidence.
Speaking during a panel discussion on the Nigeria–China financial corridor in Beijing, participants examined how the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy direction was influencing investment assessments, cross-border transactions and business planning.
Banking executive Kayode Solola of Standard Bank Group credited Governor Olayemi Cardoso with building a team capable of explaining the policy framework consistently. He said that institutional depth mattered to investors assessing whether improvements would endure.
Investors could price financial risks, Solola argued, but also needed confidence in the continuity of established policies and the institutions responsible for implementing them.
“It’s continuity of policy. It’s continuity of what has been established,” he said.
Dr Okey Umeano, Deputy Director, Financial Markets at the CBN, said the Bank was reinforcing its policy framework with infrastructure supporting financial-market activity.
“We’re deepening the fixed income markets also, getting the repos working, so that there’s that financial markets infrastructure enabling the banks to do the RMB Naira trade,” he said.
Umeano linked that work to confidence among both direct and portfolio investors in their ability to move funds through the financial system. The objective was to establish arrangements that could continue functioning over longer investment horizons.
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Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola offered a practical example of how greater exchange-rate predictability was affecting commercial activity. He said the company had developed arrangements through which Nigerian businesses could pay participating Chinese suppliers in naira.
Agboola said nearly 300 Chinese suppliers had adopted the model, linking their participation to reliable payment infrastructure, confirmation of payment and confidence in planning transactions.
Samuel Tao of the China-Africa Fund for Industrial Cooperation acknowledged Nigeria’s progress and identified macroeconomic stability, predictable rules and confidence in capital repatriation as important investment considerations.
Huawei representative Chen Liu discussed the potential role of payment modernisation, fraud prevention and artificial intelligence in strengthening financial infrastructure.
Moderated by Peter Poon of ICBC Standard Bank, the panel connected the CBN’s policy responsibilities with the experience of institutions using Nigeria’s financial system. Participants emphasised that sustaining confidence would require continued policy discipline alongside markets and payment arrangements that work reliably for businesses and investors.
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