Business

World Bank-IMF Spring Meeting: FG Showcases Progress of Nigerian Economy To Boost Foreign Investment

Published

2 years ago

April 18, 2024

Joel Ajayi

As the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings intensify in Washington DC, the Federal Government has assured that it will continue to showcase the progress made so far in the Nigerian economy in order to attract more foreign investment into the country with a view to improving on the lives of Nigerians.

The Honourable Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, gave the assurance in Washington when he granted audience to some newsmen.

He stated that the bold, courageous and strategic reforms of the Nigerian economy embarked upon by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Administration aims not only at stabilising the nation’s economy in order to boost foreign investment into the country but also to provide opportunities for job creation and poverty reduction.

The Minister informed that the economy is moving in the right direction as the policies put in place by the present administration have started slowing down food inflation.

Edun explained that both he, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Olayemi Cardoso, and other key government officials are in Washington DC to showcase the progress made so far in the Nigerian economy.

*The Economic Team of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is here to showcase the progress so far made of his bold, courageous and strategic reforms for the Nigerian economy in order to get it stabilised so as to attract foreign investment, create jobs for our people, reduce poverty and enhance our economic growth and development in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Administration*. *We have all seen what has happened in terms of stabilising the exchange rate and inflation, which is now heading in the right direction*, the Minister said.

He added that *If you look closely at the numbers that came out especially from Monday, you will see that there is a slowing of the rate of increase of food inflation, things are moving in the right direction, government revenues are up, even oil revenues are up but not as much as we will like. But I assure you that with our resilience, we will get there*, he concluded.

The Minister is attending the World Bank-IMF Spring meeting in Washington DC alongside the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, some Directors and other government officials.

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Business

TAJBank Emerges Nigeria’s Biggest Non-Interest Bank

Published

2 weeks ago

October 23, 2025

The Gleamer

Cyril Ogar

After five years of operations in Nigeria’s rapidly evolving non-interest banking (NIB) space, TAJBank Limited has become the biggest player in the NIB subsector based on its total assets and gross earnings values.

Disclosing this during his paper presentation on the key performance indices in the non-interest banking space over the past few years at a seminar organized by Leaders Corporate Services with the theme “Roles of Non-Interest Banks In SMEs’ Financing” for SME entrepreneurs yesterday in Abuja, an investment expert, Mr. Olabode Akeredolu-Ale, maintained that based on the non-interest banks’ approved financial statements for the half year 2025, TAJBank currently remained the biggest in terms of its total assets.

The expert, a chartered stockbroker, specifically confirmed that his recent investment researches on the NIBs and their financial performances showed that TAJBank, with its total assets rising to N1.017 trillion in half year 2025 up from N953.098 billion as of December 2024, which is about N53 billion higher than the nearest NIB’s assets, now ranked top in the banking subsector.

According to him, TAJBank’s gross earnings for H1 2025 also surged to N53.752 billion from N32.86 billion as of December 2024, representing a 64% growth, and higher than the nearest NIB’s gross earnings in the period under review.

This is even as he disclosed that on the NIBs’ earnings per share during the half year, TAJBank reported N61.36 kobo earnings per share, about 92% higher than the earnings per share of the next NIB during the period.

Akeredolu-Ale, who is also a chartered accountant, clarified: “The figures I am reeling out here on the NIBs are sourced from the banking and capital market regulatory institutions’ platforms, which anyone can access to verify.

“I am part of this event because of my research interest in non-interest banking and how the players in the subsector in Nigeria can help to leverage their competencies in innovation and ethical banking to support our MSMEs.

“Today, the MSMEs cannot access DMBs’ loans due to high lending rates and other inclement macroeconomic factors. This is where I think the NIBs have become very crucial to Nigeria’s economic growth.

“Overall, my findings on the NIBs indicated that they are all trying their best with non-interest loans to support entrepreneurs, particularly the MSMEs owners. I have advised those of them at this seminar to explore the cost-friendly financing options of the NIBs to grow their businesses by opening accounts with the NIBs”, the expert added.

Another speaker at the event, Benjamin Chukwudi, also commended the NIBs for their “catalytic roles in helping SMEs to access interest-free loans and providing them the needed financial management advisory, which have been helping them in sustaining their operations in the face of rising cost of doing business in the country.”

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