To many economists and investors in the Nigerian economy, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, has played his part in the last nine years of being in charge of the apex bank.
He assumed office as the 11th CBN Governor on June 3, 2014; at a time crude oil prices were succumbing to global economic tremors and headwinds.
Resolute and focussed, Emefiele made it categorically clear that the falling crude oil prices would not deter him from operating a people-oriented monetary policy administration.
Against the odds, he unveiled a 10-point agenda to buoy his vision; against the backdrop of a 60% crash in crude oil revenue and a gape in the nation’s purse.
Being a largely mono economy with no window of escape, the oil crisis set off a chain of events that eventually tossed the country into a recession in 2016, the first time in a quarter of a century.
Amid these litany of challenges, Emefiele designed a bouquet of intervention programmes to build economic resilience to insulate the Nigerian economy from similar shocks in future.
This involved an aggressive push for economic diversification.
He also created products that would strengthen players in the Micro Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) ecosystem to stimulate growth and boost job creation.
Confronted with a limping fiscal wing with a narrow space to release money to catalyse the economy, he then ballooned the intervention programmes.
Currently, the CBN has 37 of such programmes strategically designed to fortify the economy and address the lingering issue of unemployment and poverty.
The schemes were designed and insulated from undue political interference to ensure they succeeded.
This firm stand on driving policies that won’t be hijacked by politicians makes him a reformer that is often misunderstood.
To him, the CBN is to act as a financial catalyst by targeting strategic sectors that could create jobs on a huge scale and reduce the country’s import bills.
In June 2015, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) excluded 43 hitherto imported goods from accessing foreign exchange at the Nigerian foreign exchange markets.
Emefiele, who was undeterred by their dangerous display of ignorance, said there was no way the apex bank could sustain funding food imports for a population of over 200 million, when there is in-country capacity to grow the food items.
That was how the Anchor Borrower’s Programme (ABP), an intervention scheme aimed at solving the food insufficiency nightmare and creating massive employment, was born.
Other intervention programmes also came on stream to have a total coverage of the economy.
On his watch, the CBN has disbursed N25.6 billion under the N1 trillion Real Sector Facility to eight new real sector projects in manufacturing packaging, pharmaceuticals, plastic and cosmetic products.
Cumulative disbursements under the Real Sector Facility currently stands at N2.56 trillion disbursed to 462 projects across the country, comprising 257 manufacturing, 95 agriculture, 97 services and 13 mining sector projects.
Under the 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP), the Bank disbursed N13.81 billion to three projects in the manufacturing sector. This brings the cumulative disbursement under the facility to N173.31 billion, disbursed to 81 projects comprising 45 manufacturing, 23 agriculture, 5 healthcare, and 8 services sector projects with an estimated 23,343 direct jobs created.
Under the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF-2) for capital, and operational expenditure of distribution companies (Discos), the Bank disbursed N11.82 billion to ease liquidity constraints and support the recovery of legacy debt. Under the scheme so far, the Bank has disbursed a cumulative sum of N254.39 billion.
Emefiele recently disclosed that the Race to $200 billion in foreign exchange (FX) repatriation programme (RT200) of the bank has boosted repatriation of funds into the country by 40 per cent in 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, the country recorded $1.7 billion inflows due to the non-oil export initiative.
He also noted that the apex bank was monitoring some shipping companies aiding and abetting the smuggling of goods, warning that there were plans to sanction such companies by placing a post-no debit (PND) on the bank accounts.
The CBN, on his watch, has consistently resisted the pressures to return to “staggering and undulating foreign exchange rate in relation to the naira due to pressures by speculators, bettors, round-trippers and rent-seekers.
However, with the twin-blight of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, which have disrupted global supply chains and shrunk food productivity, Emefiele is now being applauded as a visionary leader who saw tomorrow and prepared for it.
This is because many countries have been forced to limit export of food items to meet local demands, having recorded a shaky exit from COVID-19-induced recession and its concomitant shutdowns.
The unsavoury development puts any import-reliant country in dire straits as getting food supplies has become a tough order and obviously more expensive, with a heavy strain on foreign reserves.
So, in line with the Buhari administration’s mantra of growing what the nation consumes and consuming what it grows, the ABP has recorded progress in the local cultivation of over 10 crops, including rice, other grains and oil palm. Between January and February this year, N12.65 billion was disbursed to three agricultural projects under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, bringing the cumulative disbursement under the Programme to N1.09 trillion to over 4.6 million smallholder farmers cultivating or rearing 21 agricultural commodities on an approved 6.02 million hectares of farmland across the country.
Repayments stand at 52.39 per cent of total exposure and the Central Bank has continued to reiterate its commitment to its developmental mandate of stimulating access to finance for the real sector.
During the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Emefiele led a private sector effort to provide some cushioning programmes. One of them was the Coalition against COVID-19 (CACOVID) chaired by Herbert Wigwe with donations of over N19.4 billion.
In February, former President Muhammadu Buhari commended that coalition for donating N12 billion for security equipment.
Also, as part of efforts to stimulate infrastructural development across the country, the Emefiele-led CBN, working with the fiscal authorities also established a N15 trillion infrastructure development company (Infraco).
Last year, Emefiele bagged the Forbes Best of Africa Lifetime Achievement Award for strictly regulating Nigerian banks and introduced far-reaching measures to stabilize the economy in spite of global economic challenges.
It has deepened financial inclusion as many unbanked Nigerians have been brought into the formal banking ecosystem using an array of digital platforms like; internet banking, mobile banking, domestic card (AFRIGO), USSD, PSBS, POS, eNaira app and 1.4 million mobile banking agents spread across the country to attend to the informal sector and those in far-flung settlements.
As a country battling terrorism, banditry and other crimes, it is very important to run on modern banking templates that dwarfs cash usage because digital footprints are easier to trace, track and investigate.
Experts note that while the naira redesign project has loads of economic goodies, some sections of Nigerians, apparently those addicted to cash spending, unfortunately, have not considered the gains but have detonated the policy and tried to stir public objection.
Critics of the cashless policy have argued that it would further impoverish Nigerians and create unemployment in the financial value chain. But they lacked evidence to buttress their rejection.
At last, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has decided to end the services of Emefiele as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
