Q: The past few years have not been easy for Nigerian banks. How would you describe the operating environment today?
A: Last year was tougher than 2017 – there were issues with foreign exchange [FX] liquidity as well as a devaluation of the naira among other challenges; 2017 has still been quite difficult although Nigeria's Investors & Exporters [I&E] window has eased FX liquidity shortages. The introduction of this window has been one of the most successful policy developments of the year: there is foreign exchange availability today if you are willing to buy and sell at the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market. Nevertheless, a greater convergence between the official and parallel naira rates still needs to occur.
