Nigeria Partners 3 Countries To Strengthen African Financial Centres

Nigeria, through EnterpriseNGR, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with three African countries, namely; Mauritius, Morocco, and Rwanda to strengthen African Financial Centres.

EnterpriseNGR is a member-led professional advocacy group promoting the Nigerian Financial and Professional Services (FPS) sector.

To this end, it is to set up the Africa Roundtable of Financial Centres – a chapter of the World Alliance of International Financial Centres (WAIFC). WAIFC is a global network of financial centres that aims to promote cooperation, the exchange of best practices, and the development of the global financial system.

The MoU, signed last week in Mauritius brings together EnterpriseNGR, the Economic Development Board of Mauritius (EDB), Casablanca Finance City Authority (CFCA), and Rwanda Finance Limited (RFL) with the aim of fostering collaboration, promoting investment opportunities, and driving sustainable development within the financial centres of its member countries and Africa at large. Nigeria, through EnterpriseNGR, is joining forces with the three countries to specifically strengthen the competitiveness of financial centres in Africa; collaborate through projects, research papers, communiques, and events to position the African Continent, demonstrate the myriad of investment opportunities, and showcase the role that financial centres play within the African Continent.

They are to conduct joint initiatives to support the exchange of best practices between members, enhance visibility regionally and internationally, and to provide African financial centres with a unified voice regionally and internationally, facilitate the development of dialogue with major financial centres outside the African continent as well as build communication channels with African institutions, including regulators and policymakers with African financial services industry associations, and advocate for regulatory coordination amongst members of the Africa Roundtable to promote cross-border investments and financial services. The establishment of the WAIFC Africa Roundtable is a significant step forward for Africa’s financial sector and by working together, the signatory countries can create a more vibrant and competitive financial landscape that will benefit the entire continent. Commenting on this collaboration, the chairperson of the Africa Roundtable, Mr. Ken Poonoosamy, stated that; “the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Africa Roundtable of the WAIFC represents a pivotal stride in fostering synergy among financial hubs within the African sphere, with the shared objective of catalysing economic advancement across the continent.”

The chief executive officer(CEO) of EnterpriseNGR, Obi Ibekwe, represented by the director of Policy & Public Affairs, Lami Adekola, expressed her excitement over this unprecedented development, noting that, “It is a historic achievement, and EnterpriseNGR fully endorses the Africa Roundtable of the WAIFC and is excited for the immense opportunities it represents for Nigeria and the African continent. Our collaboration with the four African countries promises to bolster financial competitiveness on the Continent and amplify Africa’s global presence. We will leverage this Roundtable to unlock the full potential of African financial centres to drive prosperity and development for our nations and beyond.” Following the signing of the MoU, an inaugural meeting of the Roundtable was held to set the tone for robust conversations around leveraging the collaborative strength of African content. Kenya, represented by the Two Rivers International Finance and Innovation Centre, joined the founding members of the Africa Roundtable as an observer at this meeting.

EnterpriseNGR is strategically positioned to engage in both private and public sector advocacy with the aim of fostering a favourable operating environment for the FPS sector and championing the transformation of Nigeria into Africa’s premier international financial centre. In 2023, EnterpriseNGR became a member of WAIFC, during the WAIFC board meeting hosted by TheCityUK in London.