CBN wants expansion of African central banks' mandate

Omotunde Alade

The Acting Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Sarah Alade, on Sunday, said the expansion of the mandates of African central banks was necessary to support developmental projects.

Alade made the remark at the 7th joint Annual Meetings of the Economic Community of African Conference of African Ministers of Finance taking place in Abuja.

Alade, who featured as a panelist on the topic “Capacity and Institutions for Industrial development : The Role of the Public and Private Sectors’’, said “there is need to closely examine the mandates of African central banks because it is narrowed to price stability.

“Before globalisation, central banks of developed economies were involved in development issues. We cannot industrialise in Africa with narrow focus on price stability.’’

According to her, the expansion of central banks’ mandate to play supportive roles to fiscal authority will help in driving industrialisation on the continent.

The CBN boss said Africa had to devise its own solution to underdevelopment, adding that public- private partnership would not solve the problem in its entirety.

Alade noted that countries such as  Brazil have established financing institutions that went a long way in support of their development initiatives.

“We need to refocus and see how best to improve the volume of financing projects in Africa,’’ she noted.

The bank chief stressed the need to formulate policies based on transparency and accountability.

She added that human capital development should be the topmost priority in the region in order to ensure an enduring industrialisation.

“Commitment and political will are very important  in this industrialisation drive. We don’t need to pay lip service to it.

“We must invest in people to achieve industrialisation and also build the public sector to contribute positively in the initiative.’’