President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerian banks to shift their focus from profit maximisation and shareholder returns to financing businesses, industries and entrepreneurs capable of expanding the nation’s productive capacity.
Tinubu made the call at the opening of the 19th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Abuja, where he challenged financial institutions to reassess how they manage risk and deploy capital.
Represented by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, the President said the strength of Nigeria’s banking sector should increasingly be measured by its contribution to the real economy.
He noted that while profitability, balance-sheet growth and shareholder returns remained important, banks must also demonstrate how their activities were improving access to credit, supporting businesses and creating jobs.
According to him, an economy cannot achieve sustainable growth when manufacturers struggle to finance expansion and millions of productive micro, small and medium-sized enterprises remain excluded from formal financing.
Tinubu said banks should therefore be prepared to take intelligent and well-managed risks in sectors with the potential to generate employment, increase production and expand economic opportunities.
He also stressed that Nigeria’s economic reforms were beginning to restore stability and investor confidence, but warned that stability alone would not translate automatically into improved living standards.
The President said the focus must now shift towards converting economic stability into investment, investment into production, and production into jobs and better welfare for Nigerians.
He further linked the ongoing bank recapitalisation exercise to the broader economic transformation agenda, saying stronger banks must use their increased capacity to finance Nigerian businesses and support the country’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.
Tinubu maintained that Nigeria did not simply need larger financial institutions, but a financial system capable of directing capital towards productive opportunities.
“A bigger bank that does not finance a more productive economy is a suboptimal outcome,” he said.
He urged the banking industry to embrace its role as a key driver of economic development by financing innovation, enterprise and long-term productive investment.
