Governor Cardoso’s conversation at CEO Forum organised by BusinessDay publications

The 14th Annual BusinessDay CEO Forum took place on July 16th, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites in Victoria Island. This forum was anchored around the theme “From Stability to Shared Prosperity.” It must be a salute to focus, determination and resilience that this programme has now been held every year without fail for fourteen years. This in itself is not at all surprising considering the quality and calibre of the personality behind it all. Those of us who have known Frank Aigbogun for quite some time now are not at all surprised. He dares where angels fear to tread with rugged determination. I am so proud of my relationship with Frank that it is in order to recall here that when he conceived the Business Day project, he granted me the honour of paying me a visit at my home; I was then living at Dolphin Estate in Ikoyi to discuss his intentions and to solicit my support, which I was so very willing to give at the early stages as practicalised through regular editorial contributions in solidarity. As Governor Cardoso himself observed during the fire chat, remaining in business for 25 long years in a terrain as tough as that of Nigeria with all its inherent challenges is no mean achievement, particularly in the context of the print media, which have recently been so massively affected by developments in the digital space with regard to public communications.

It is probably in order that before we delve into the fire chat at the event, we say one or two things about Governor Cardoso, who is a truly remarkable person. I have made this observation in the past, and I am willing to make it again for as long as it is necessary. We must continue to celebrate the personality of the governor, particularly the values he brings to the table. Governor Cardoso, without mincing words, is a thoroughbred professional, and I suppose that observation says it all. His antecedents make him so well prepared for the job, considering the place we found ourselves before his assumption of office. He is someone who would play only by the rules. He is not prepared to cut any corners and does not come with a transactional mentality. He appreciated very much the dire situation Nigeria found itself in upon his assumption of office, and it was either the job would be done professionally or Nigeria was going to tip over the cliff. As a patriotic Nigerian, the choice was obvious, and the results are what we all celebrate today. We therefore thank the good Lord for his gift of Governor Cardoso.

It is a matter for the records that the Nigerian Central Bank received on June 10, 2026, at the 13th annual Central Banking Awards ceremony in London, the award for Central Bank of the Year 2026. It is also a matter for the record that the governor previously won the Central Bank Governor of the Year Award at the 2025 African Banker Awards, which was held in Abidjan. Commendations have also been received from the International Monetary Fund, as it strongly commended the actions taken by the Central Bank and the Federal Government with regard to the feat of the unification of the foreign exchange market in Nigeria driven by the ‘willing-buyer, willing-seller’ exchange model.

Frank, who, as must be expected, was the moderator during the fire chat. He opened the conversation by asking the governor what he thought was his most remarkable achievement in his first three years in office. I thought that the answer to that question was an obvious one to all of our compatriots. What we are witnessing today in this realm in terms of foreign exchange management is most certainly beyond our imagination. I don’t suppose that anyone ever thought that we would wake up and not have conversations regarding the rate of foreign exchange dominating the airwaves. But that is the situation we find ourselves in today. We must also add quickly that our situation now is not at all peculiar, as it is the situation that most other countries within and beyond the sub-region experience. There was a time we even had contestations regarding who was authorised to announce the rate of exchange, as some non-state actors took over this job from the Central Bank, driven by the prevalent trust deficit in the land then.

We now find ourselves in the comfortable situation where the external reserves stand at over 52 billion dollars, representing about ten months’ import value, which in itself is confidence-boosting. For context, this administration inherited reserves of about 3 billion dollars for a country the size of Nigeria with a population of over 200 million people. As the governor observed during the chat, some have asked how smart it is to leave so much money in the reserves. But note that the reserves have their role to play, and we must allow them to fully play that role for the economy. In this respect, the governor highlighted the success recorded with diaspora remittances. He explained that at some point in time the decision was taken to double diaspora remittances within one year. And as efforts were made at marketing the instrument, from the time of the year when this goal was set to the end of the year, the diaspora remittances were doubled. The goal the governor announced now is to achieve one billion dollars in diaspora remittances inflow every month. The improvements in the management of foreign exchange have been so resounding that travellers can now use their debit card seamlessly as they transact business overseas during their travels. The transparency in this regard received a boost, as it has just been reported that the Central Bank has launched a digital platform to track every foreign exchange transaction undertaken by Bureau de Change operators.

The other matter which was discussed was the recent bank recapitalisation exercise. The moderator referred to the concerns expressed with regard to the extent of increase in the capital base for banks and the time that was allowed for its implementation. It is a fact that an increase from an existing capital base of 10 to 50 billion Naira, depending on the category of the bank, to 500 billion for banks with an international mandate, 200 billion Naira for those with a national mandate and 20 billion Naira for specialised banks was quite steep. The governor explained that the extent of the increase was justified given the prevalent levels of inflation and the fact that Nigeria’s banking system is unique. We have Nigerian banks in most countries in Africa and also in the major financial capitals of the world, thereby enhancing their risk profile. The banks also faced considerable risks in their lending to the oil and gas sectors of the economy, as has been made quite evident going by some recently publicised cases that dominated discussions in this respect. There is, therefore, the urgent need for banks to up their game with regard to efficient risk management across the board. It was therefore necessary that due cognisance of this situation be factored in as the new capital base was determined.

But this historic level of bank recapitalisation was concluded at the expiry of the twenty-four months’ duration on March 31, 2026, with resounding success. Thirty-four banks out of the 37 banks were able to meet this minimum capital base at the end of the period. It is remarkable that these results were achieved without extensions of the time allowed. This is contrary to the experience in the past when one time limit was extended after another. What do we think changed? In my humble opinion, the personality of the governor, who has a no-nonsense image. All operators better fall in line, as the announced consequences would inevitably follow. The governor observed that what is now required is to ensure that the about 4-5 trillion naira that was raised when the recapitalisation exercise was concluded is optimised to drive economic growth and development.

As Frank Aigbogun observed, stability is necessary but not at all sufficient. There is the need now for the reforms to translate into jobs, businesses to thrive and lead to overall higher standards of living for the population, which explains why the theme of the forum was couched as “From stability to shared prosperity.” The governor also urged business executives to take advantage of the emerging investment opportunities.

The IMF, on the other hand, has urged the Central Bank to keep interest rates hawkish and data-dependent until inflationary pressures are under control. But the extant challenge is that interest rates are a veritable factor which, on their own, impact the level of inflation, which, at about 15%, is not sustainable. And the expectation in the land is that after an overly extended duration of deceleration, it is time to reflate the economy as the central bank commences the inevitable process of the reduction of monetary policy rates. Unfortunately, external shocks, like the America/Iran war, have for now acted as a cog in the wheel.

We must all now pay heed to the advice by the IMF about the need to be intentional with tackling the severe poverty and food insecurity challenges which have continued to plague the population as the fiscal authorities quickly pivot from harsh macroeconomic adjustments to the protection of the citizens by the provision of a safety net, which is fully funded and transparent for the distribution of unconditional cash transfers to about 15 million vulnerable families. It is also recommended that there be an end to off-budget spending to bring massive infrastructure projects back into the formal national budgeting process to prevent governance and deficit risks.

There is also the need to audit savings from subsidy removal to provide clear, public accounting detailing where the savings from subsidy removal were spent. The IMF is of the opinion that to target real productivity, security bottlenecks in key agriculture belts must be resolved, and efforts should be made to fast-track electricity grid reforms to stimulate manufacturing. It must be observed here that in the long run, the Governor of the Central Bank, a quintessential professional, gave a good account of himself at the Forum. Governor Cardoso, our prayer is that your tribe would increase in Nigeria.

Dr Boniface Chizea FCIB; MD/CEO, BIC Consultancy Services, Lagos.