Nigeria Banks May Attain N100bn Capital Base

By Eddyson Lugangwa Posted 27 April 2006 @ 01:18 pm EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

Nairobi (IBTimes.com) - The Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Mr. Erastus Akingbola says shareholders' funds of some Nigerian banks may raise to over N100billion within the year.

Akingbola made this assertion at the 2006 Bankers' Forum of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos, saying that despite the availability of loanable funds in the industry it is still fraught with challenges.

Speaking on the topic, "The New face of banking in Nigeria: Lessons and challenges, the bank boss said that the challenges before the subsector include; post merger integration, global operations, financing the real sector of the economy and regulatory challenges. According to him the ability of banks to overcome the challenge will determine the future of the industry.

He posited that the industry is bound for further process of reform and consolidation, but stated that it can certainly do with a lot of help from the relevant authorities particularly as regards reducing the prohibitive transaction costs associated with capital markets.

"The point above closely relates to another challenge I see for the banking industry and that is the challenge of regional leadership. Presently South African banks are the undisputed leaders but given our immense resources endowments, we owe Africa leadership responsibilities that we may start living up to," he said.