Browsing: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

Minimum capital requirement
  • The Central Bank of Nigeria has decided to increase the minimum capital requirement for lenders to bolster the country’s economy.
  • Nigerian banks now face weaker capital ratios and higher impaired loans.
  • The last time Nigeria recapitalised its banking sector dates back to 2004.

Minimum capital requirement for lenders

Following the surge in inflation levels, a deteriorating economy, and the plummeting of the Naira, the CBN has decided to increase the minimum capital requirement for lenders to bolster the country’s economy.

Under the new regulations, the Central Bank of Nigeria has raised the capital threshold for international banks to $359 million …

  • Like many other countries, the IMF has noted that Nigeria’s economy faces a complex external environment and wide-ranging domestic challenges.
  • External financing (market and official) is scarce, and global food prices have surged, reflecting the repercussions of conflict and geo-economic fragmentation.
  • Per-capita growth in Nigeria has stalled, and poverty and food insecurity are high, exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis, according to the global lender.

Nigeria’s economy is not yet out of the woods, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has indicated, with a potential economic crisis despite government interventions to improve the economy.

This is even as the country’s real GDP is projected to grow by three per cent this year compared to last year’s projection of 2.9 per cent.

Like many other countries, the IMF has noted that Nigeria faces a complex external environment and wide-ranging domestic challenges.

External financing (market and official) is scarce, and global food prices have surged, …

  • Climate Change-related flooding saw large swathes of farmlands and settlement areas in Nigeria’s coastal Niger Delta flooded by December 2022.
  • Boko Haram terrorists, bandits, and armed herders have forced at least 78,000 farmers to abandon their farmland.
  • Over the past eight years, an estimated 6,000 Benue people reported killed while two million farmers were displaced.

Nigeria is battling a perfect storm with a double whammy of climate change and conflict exacerbating the country’s food crisis. Currently an estimated 25.3 million people in Nigeria are facing food crisis partly worsened by the ongoing flooding throughout the country.

As of December 2022, large swathes of farmland and settlements in Nigeria’s coastal Niger Delta region flood. The flooding saw the closure of schools, leaving hundreds of children out of learning centres as the disaster took a toll.

Climate change worsening Nigeria’s food crisis

Nigeria, which with 222.2 million people is Africa’s most populous …