A collapsed stock market and a plummeting oil price would normally be good reason for investors to steer clear of Nigeria. But the country is weathering the financial storm and its reformed bank sector, while unsteady, looks set to survive the crisis intact. Charlie Corbett reports from Lagos.
Nigeria’s banks have so far been relatively insulated from the credit crisis in the West, but with external sources of capital rapidly drying up, how long can this situation last? Erastus Akinbola is chief executive of one of Nigeria’s leading banks, Intercontinental Bank, and president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Nigeria. He spoke to Charlie Corbett about the impact of the credit crisis on Nigeria’s banking industry.