Business
Director Explains AfDB’s Vision
Human Development Director of African Development Bank (AfDB), Agnes Soucat, has said that remittances and microfinance are the two key components of the bank’s inclusive financial services.
“Access to finance is a key component of our new human capital development strategy.
“Increasing opportunities for the poor and marginalised and particularly for the African youth is crucial in order to ensure social inclusion as well as job creation,” Soucat said at one of the seminars at the AFDB, annual general meeting (AGM).
With an estimated Africa’s Diaspora fund of 40 billion dollars annually, 21 .5 billion dollars were remitted to Sub-Saharan Africa in 2011.
Participants at the seminar said remittances not only helped African communities to cope with crisis and lack of economic prospects but also contributed to enterprise development and human capital.
They also said remittances was a major driver in African poverty reduction scheme.
“There is no doubt that remittance inflow has been an important factor in Africa’s economic development, a significant proportion of that is handled by Dahabshiil, an African web-based money transfer system.
“Microfinance initiatives are equally enabling some of Africa’s poorest to plan for the future,” said Abdirashid Duale, the CEO of Dahabshiil.
According him, the share of remittances to GDP has remained stable for the last decade, averaging about 2.4 per cent per annum.
But the World Bank said the effects of the economic crisis and the Arab spring on remittances flows were felt more in Sub-Saharan Africa.
World Bank calculations also showed that remittances flows to Cape Verde, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau are exposed to worsening economies.
Donald Terry, a professor at the Boston School of Law and former Manager of the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank , said: “Access to finance for the vast majority of Africans is an important goal for the AfDB’s drive for more inclusive growth.”
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
