Economy
THE President of the Capital Market Academics of Nigeria (CMAN), Prof. Uche Uwaleke, has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to abandon development finance but channel such interventions through specialised development finance institutions.
Uwaleke made the appeal on Monday in Abuja at a World Press Conference organised by CMAN ahead of its second biennial conference.
He said the CBN should, rather than directly administer intervention programmes, provide strategic support through institutions with the expertise to finance agriculture, manufacturing, housing, exports and small businesses.
According to him, the apex bank occupies a unique position in Nigeria’s economy and can continue to support output expansion and employment generation without compromising its primary mandate of ensuring monetary and price stability.
“Economic growth must become more broad-based.
“Nigeria recorded a Gross Domestic Product growth rate of 3.89 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, an improvement over the corresponding period of 2025.
“This is encouraging and reflects increasing resilience within the economy.
“However, in our assessment, this growth remains modest and somewhat fragile,” he said.
Uwaleke said agriculture and manufacturing continued to grow below the levels required to generate adequate employment and substantially reduce poverty.
According to him, government policies should prioritise infrastructure development, productivity enhancement, industrialisation, agricultural value chains and an enabling business environment to achieve more inclusive economic growth.
He noted that the CBN had reaffirmed its decision to refocus on its core mandate of monetary and price stability by discontinuing direct development finance interventions.
He recalled that the CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, had said the bank would instead support institutions with the capacity and expertise to implement such interventions.
On capital inflows, Uwaleke said available data showed that more than 95 per cent of the over 10 billion dollars recorded as capital importation in the first quarter of 2026 comprised foreign portfolio investments.
While acknowledging that such investments support market liquidity, he warned that they remained short-term and could leave the economy quickly in response to changes in global conditions.
He said foreign direct investment, which creates jobs, transfers technology and expands productive capacity, remained low.
According to him, the imbalance exposes the economy to sudden capital flow reversals and heightened external vulnerability.
Uwaleke urged the Federal Government to attract more long-term productive investment through targeted incentives, policy consistency, stronger contract enforcement, improved security and sustained ease of doing business reforms.
He said Nigeria had enormous investment opportunities but required a stable and predictable environment capable of attracting investors committed to productive enterprises.
The CMAN president also expressed concern over the country’s rising public debt, noting that official figures put Nigeria’s debt stock at more than N159 trillion as at the end of 2025.
According to him, although borrowing is not inherently bad, the pace of debt accumulation raises concerns about debt sustainability, debt servicing and fiscal space for development spending.
He said CMAN was also worried about widening fiscal deficits and the low implementation of capital expenditure despite the country’s huge infrastructure deficit.
Uwaleke urged governments at all levels to leverage the capital market more strategically to finance infrastructure projects capable of driving long-term economic transformation.
(NAN)
W.U
June 29, 2026
Tags: Mr Olayemi Cardoso Prof. Uche Uwaleke