THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has concluded plans to commence a process that will see the Asset

Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) divest from the three nationalised banks- Keystone, Enterprise and Mainstreet banks from June 1, 2013.

Besides, the apex bank’s Governor, Lamido Sanusi, disclosed that it would commence the enforcement of the removal of the N100 charge on the use of Automated Teller Machines (ATM) as recommended by the banks from Monday, December 17.

Also, the apex bank’s Governor, noted that with about $3 billion or N480 billion needed to drive the transmission challenges in the power sector, proceeds from the sale of assets in the sector should be invested in the transmission system in order to encourage investors to stake in the deal.

Sanusi disclosed these while addressing journalists at the end of the fourth yearly Bankers’ Committee

Retreat titled: “Towards Economic Development and Sustainable Transformation,” held in Calabar, at the weekend.

He explained that with the restoration of financial systems stability, the bank would commence a process that would enhance AMCON’s divestment from the three nationalised banks next year to aid their performance.

AMCON’s helmsman, Chike Obi, had said the corporation was not willing to hold on to the banks for more than two years.

AMCON had last year revealed an estimated N679 billion investment in the three bridged banks rescued by the Federal Government, following indications that none of the 15 foreign and five local investors said to have expressed interest in the institutions made any headway with the transaction since last year.

The investment, which was approved by the Federal Government as part of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s financial sector reform and intervention programme aimed at cleaning up the nation’s financial system of the rot left by erstwhile managers of former Afribank Plc, Bank PHB Plc and Spring Bank Plc.

On the ATM charges, he said: “We have agreed on a final date of Monday 17 December, 2012 for the kick-off, which every bank will remove the charges. We allowed some time for banks that have not configured their IT infrastructure to do so and stop charging and hopefully by 17th of December, you are not going to have any customer pay additional charges,” he assured.

According to the apex bank governor, the decision was reached to resolve compliance issues among banks on the issue.

He also stated that with banks’ lending to the agriculture sector has increased remarkably from 1.5 per cent of total industry portfolio to 3.5 per cent in 2012, noting that banks have outlined strategy to attain seven per cent agric sector lending by next year and 10 per cent by 2017.

With the number of the financially excluded population reduced from 46 per cent of adults in 2010 to 38.7 per cent in 2012, Sanusi noted that the bank has chosen Borno State as its pilot state for the implementation of its financial inclusion strategy, with women serving as key targets of the strategy.

On banks’ investment in the economy: “With a vision for a better future for Nigerians, the Bankers’

Committee is committed to a lead role as catalyst for economic development, improving access to finance by the unbanked and under-banked population and growth of the real sector.

“The Bankers’ Committee has focused on the Power, Agriculture and Transport Infrastructure sectors for driving growth and identified opportunities for financial system intervention in the transformation of these critical sectors of the economy.

“Through collaboration with the government, the banking community and real sector stakeholders, the Bankers’ Committee programmes and initiatives have contributed to tangible improvements in the enabling environment and private sector funding for the power and agriculture sectors.”

In his review of the committee’s activities for 2012, he said over N100 billion had been committed to power projects from the Power and Aviation Intervention Fund (PAIF), adding that the establishment of NIRSAL had encouraged the growth of formal credit for the agriculture value chain.

According to Sanusi, the Bankers’ Committee had also initiated effective advocacy that led to significant progress in the reform of key sectors of the economy including power, agriculture and the oil and gas sectors.

“We affirm our commitment to a stable financial system for Nigeria that contributes to economic development and growth. We commend His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s economic reform agenda and associate with the objective of growing the Nigerian economy and creating jobs.

“The CBN has taken proactive actions to ensure that the financial system remains focused and committed to the goals of economic development and sustainability, effective collaboration and partnership across government, banks, private sector and key stakeholders are critical to achieve economic goals and objectives.

On the bank’s outlook, he said: “We have defined clear objectives and targets for 2013, agreed the results and outcomes we expect to achieve and assigned responsibilities for implementation. We will continuously monitor our progress on implementation as well as the impact of our actions on Nigeria’s economic development goals and objectives.”

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