By Our Correspondent
SINGAPORE — The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, has taken Nigeria’s economic reform story to Asia with a series of high-level engagements in Singapore aimed at strengthening financial connectivity between Nigeria and Asia.
The Singapore leg of the engagements, which is part of a wider Asia programme that also includes meetings in Beijing, featured strategic discussions with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, MAS, the signing of a landmark Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with the Global Finance & Technology Network, GFTN, and the Nigeria-Asia Financial Connectivity Dialogue.
The programme, according to a statement from the apex bank, was designed to deepen ties on financial-sector development, regulation, market connectivity and innovation at a time when Nigeria is pushing to attract long-term institutional capital.
A key highlight of the visit was the Nigeria-Asia Financial Connectivity Dialogue, convened by the CBN in collaboration with J.P. Morgan, the Nigerian Exchange Group and FMDQ Group. The Dialogue, which was hosted at J.P. Morgan’s offices in Singapore and opened by the Managing Director of J.P. Morgan West Africa, Mr. Dapo Olagunju, brought together financial leaders, investors and regulators from both regions.
Speaking at the Dialogue, Governor Cardoso laid out Nigeria’s ambition to build deeper, more liquid and internationally connected financial markets that can compete globally.
He stressed that the ongoing reforms embarked upon by the Federal Government and the CBN are not about short-term optics but about building lasting confidence in the Nigerian economy.
“The real test of reform is not whether you can attract capital once; it is whether you create the confidence for capital to stay, return and grow,” Cardoso told participants.
The CBN Governor reiterated that recent foreign-exchange reforms are focused on removing long-standing distortions in the market, restoring transparency in price discovery, and strengthening confidence in the rules governing market participation.
According to him, stabilisation should not be mistaken for an end in itself. He explained that it is a foundation for attracting long-term institutional capital, building stronger market infrastructure, and forging closer ties to international financial markets.
Cardoso said, “Foreign-exchange reforms aim to remove distortions, restore transparency, and strengthen confidence in the rules governing market participation. Stabilisation is not an end in itself, but a foundation for long-term institutional capital, stronger market infrastructure, and closer ties to international markets.”
He also flagged fintech and Artificial Intelligence, AI, as growing forces that are reshaping financial services, risk management, financial inclusion and regulatory capability. He pointed to emerging opportunities in cross-border payments, settlement systems and stronger correspondent banking links between Nigerian and Asian banks.
Beyond capital flows, Cardoso said Nigeria’s engagement with Asia is strategic and long-term, focused on building durable institutional relationships.
“Nigeria’s Asia engagement goes beyond attracting investment flows. It is about durable relationships between institutions, markets, businesses, and people, including Nigerians living and working across the region,” he said.
The meetings with the Monetary Authority of Singapore focused on regulatory cooperation, fintech supervision and innovation frameworks, while the MoU with GFTN establishes a formal framework for collaboration on financial innovation, technology and capacity building.
Financial analysts while expressing their views on the development noted that the Singapore push signals a shift in the CBN’s investor engagement strategy — moving from traditional Western capital markets to tapping Asia’s vast pool of institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds and fintech capital.
The Asia roadshow comes as Nigeria’s reforms — including FX unification, clearance of FX backlogs, and tighter monetary policy — have begun to restore investor confidence, with the naira showing signs of stability and foreign portfolio inflows returning to the NGX.