The Bank of Industry has called for the increased collaboration of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to end some of the nation’s economic challenges.
This was disclosed by the Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Olukayode Pitan at the Nigerian Development Finance Institution’s annual general meeting.
According to the Chairman of the group, it is compelling for DFIs to increase the level of their intervention due to the fact that Nigeria was home to an estimated 200 million people and is projected to experience monumental population growth to about 400 million people by the year 2050.
What BoI boss is saying
He said, “While there had been marked economic improvement through the years from various intervention programmes and infrastructural investments, the World Bank in its projection this year stated that Nigeria would be home to 95.1 million poor people.
- “What this meant was that more efforts were required in the area of poverty alleviation, infrastructural and human capital development, agriculture, and industry, among others.
- “The actions of all of us at this event shall have a significant input on determining whether the growth of Nigeria’s population will promote prosperity and improve the livelihood of the Nigerian people or become a source of fragility, social tension, and increased economic hardships.
- “Nigerian DFIs have the potential to address these issues, working in synergy with the organised private sector as well as the three tiers of government.”
He added that the institution can deliver the level of sustainable social and economic development that we desire. Nigeria presents a unique context for the developmental mandate of DFIs.
“Indeed, we are charged with enabling various sectors and segments of the economy such as agriculture, industry, infrastructure, export and import, and mortgage,” he added.