Banking Regulation in Nigeria remains a topical issue. This is particularly so given the various challenges and episodes of bank failures the sector has experienced. In light of these challenges, there have been urgent calls to reform the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 1991, and in November 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law BOFIA, 2020. The growing area of interest in banking regulation has led to the much anticipated book publication titled: Banking Regulation in Africa: The Case of Nigeria and Other Developing Economies, written by Dr Folashade Adeyemo, lecturer at the University of Reading, UK.
This book contributes to the ongoing discourse and calls to improve the banking regulatory regime in Africa. The book pays special attention to the Nigerian banking regulatory environment, however, South Africa, Kenya, the US and UK are also captured as part of this important analysis. There is recognition of various contributions to the ongoing issue of banking regulation in Nigeria, such as Dr Oladapo Olanipekun SAN, who published an edited collection in 2016. Notable contributors to that text included Hon Justice Dr Nnamdi Dimgba, Prof Fabian Ajogwu SAN, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, and Dr Iwa Salami, Reader, University of East London.
Dr Adeyemo builds on the research of these established scholars and provides further insight and analysis of the various banking regulatory bodies including the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation among others.
She examines their significance and responsibilities, provides a very detailed analysis of the recently enacted BOFIA 2020 and its operations within the Nigerian banking system. In the foreword, written by Dr Olufemi Amao, Reader in Law, Sussex University, he reflects ‘..Providing a comprehensive historical background to the study, Dr Adeyemo examines the socio-political and economic context from which Nigerian banking regulatory approach developed. This contextualises for readers the backdrop for the discussion of the banking failures which plagued the country for decades and also the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on the banking sector.’ Professor Andrew Campbell, Emeritus Professor in Banking and Financial Law, University of Leeds wrote the preface noted that Dr Adeyemo has ‘produced a fascinating and thought-provoking work which makes an important and original contribution to the subject of regulating banks in general, and by focusing on regulating banks in developing countries in particular.’
This book will be launched in March 2022, and will be hosted by Dr Bolanle Adebola, Associate Professor in Law, University of Reading. Dr Adebola is also the convenor of the Commercial Law Research Network Nigeria, a network established to promote research and knowledge exchange on matters relating to the development and reform of commercial law in Nigeria. Dr Olufemi Amao and Professor Andrew Campbell will deliver presentations on key aspects of the book. Details of how to register may be found here.
This book will be released 29 December 2021 and can be purchased on Routledge, Amazon or Blackwells. Dr Adeyemo may be contacted at F.Adeyemo@reading.ac.uk
