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AfricaApril 1 2007

Retail jump-start

Nigeria’s retail environment is developing fast, says Nick Kochan, but further growth is hampered by the absence of a credit checking system and a national ID card.
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Nigerian banks have gone through a marketing revolution in the past two years. The need to satisfy a growing body of consumers who want the services of a bank to improve their lifestyles has triggered a massive rethink at the highest levels. Today banks are focusing on the need to present themselves in a more accessible and attractive way. Gone are the days when Nigerian bank branches were dowdy and their messages were stale and largely driven by wholesale values. Today the consumer is king and the marketplace is a more colourful and competitive environment.

The arrival of a new type of consumer has coincided with banks’ ability to spend heavily on the image-builders, the retail consultants and the expanded branch networks. Retail banking is consuming funds worth billions of naira, which banks have raised in the market in the course of recent restructuring. Banks also used the consolidation process to acquire other banks with branch networks in strategic positions. The retail environment is as competitive as it is expansionary.

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