Business
Udeagbala Urges Collaborative Efforts Between Banking Industry & OPS, Affirms NACCIMA’s Continuing Support For Stakeholders Conference
was held on August 3
Ide John Udeagbala, the President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture ( NACCIMA) has affirmed continuous support for the national stakeholders conference organized by the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
The first edition of the national stakeholders’ conference headlined ” “National Stakeholders Conference on Synergy Between the Nigeria Banking Industry and the Organized Private Sector” was held on August 3, 2022.
Udeagbala in his keynote address at the event which was held at the conference hall of the Bankers House, Adeola Hopewell Street, Victoria Island, Lagos state declared that “Please accept my assurances that our Association will continue to support initiatives such as this, as well as, advocate for policies that will encourage a private sector driven economy in Nigeria.”
The NACCIMA president identified “weak influence on policy formulation and poor access to vital resources, especially finance” as the major problems afflicting the private sector and advocated ” collaborative efforts between the banking industry and the organized private sector to manage, and possibly, reduce the risk of exposure to the banking industry while ensuring that private sector customers of the industry focus on becoming “organized” at the national stakeholders’ conference.
While acknowledging the importance of requirements affecting players in the private sector access to finance – such as the need for collateral and other forms of security often seen as exorbitant; the bureaucracy and volume of documentation required; and the length of time between application for finance and disbursement – in safeguarding the banking industry from industry wreckers such as the explosion of non-performing loans., the NACCIMA president who noted that “that an efficient financial system breeds a vibrant economy for sustained inclusive economic growth and development” also pointed out that ” there is a need for the banking sector to further enhance investments by identifying and funding good business opportunities and facilitating the exchange of goods and services as a means of contributing to the growth of the private sector”
Making a “distinction” between the private sector and the organized private sector, Udeagbala at the stakeholder’s conference explained that ” The former is the global collective of every enterprise, formal or informal, that conducts business in Nigeria. The latter is an organized collective that seeks to provide a voice for the former in terms of advocacy, business development and trade promotion”, he advocated for “collaborative efforts between the banking industry and the organized private sector to manage, and possibly, reduce the risk of exposure to the banking industry while ensuring that private sector customers of the industry focus on becoming “organized”.
The first edition of the “National Stakeholders Conference” has Accesss Bank, Zenith Bank and FirstBank as “Gold Sponsors” and Eco Bank as “Silver Sponsor”.
