As Cardoso Turns 3 at CBN, Reforms Shift Nigeria’s Financial System into New Gear

Nume Ekeghe writes on the series of reforms undertaken by the Central Bank of Nigeria under Governor Olayemi Cardoso in his three years in office and how the changes are reshaping the country's financial system. Cardoso assumed office on September 22, 2023, at a time when confidence in the financial system had been badly tested, with a fragmented foreign exchange market, severe pressure on the naira, inflation eroding household incomes, and a banking industry operating with what the new CBN leadership believed was an inadequate capital base. What followed was not one big-bang reform but a succession of changes across virtually every important part of the financial system, including the recapitalisation of the banking industry, fundamental reform of the foreign-exchange market, and changes in the payments system.

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