Beyond Interest: The Alternative Bank Charts New Path for Wealth Creation 

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

The Alternative Bank has concluded plans to chart a new course for capital allocation in Nigeria as it hosted investors, policymakers and business leaders in Lagos under the theme, ‘Beyond Interest: Capital, Innovation, and the Future of Wealth’.

The event focused on non-interest finance and the need to deploy patient capital into the country’s productive sectors rather than extractive models that only generate short-term gains.  

Opening the forum, Muhtar Bakare, Chairman of The Alternative Bank, said the economy must move away from capital that merely harvests value.  

“Extractive capital treats the economy chiefly as a place from which value is harvested. It may reward its owner, but it rarely leaves the economy stronger. Productive capital invests in enterprises, assets and systems that grow over time. It creates income for workers, demand for suppliers, revenue for governments and sustainable returns for investors,” Bakare stated.  

Delivering the keynote on behalf of Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Commissioner for Finance, Abayomi Oluyomi, said government has a critical role in de-risking investment through infrastructure and credible policy.

He cited the Blue and Red Line rail projects as examples of public investment expanding markets and reducing business costs.  

“The future of finance will belong to capital that is more purposeful, innovative and closely connected to productive economic activity.

“The future of development finance will increasingly draw on instruments including green bonds, sukuk and other ethical and non-interest structures that connect capital to real assets, productive activity and measurable outcomes. Investors do not invest in government promises. They invest in credible systems,” he said.

Also speaking, former Lagos State Governor and former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, urged financial institutions to prioritise investments tied to tangible assets and community well-being over those chasing immediate profits, noting that such investments deliver more lasting social and economic returns.  

The forum featured expert briefings from Abubakar Suleiman, Board Member of Sterling Financial Holdings and a promoter of non-interest banking in Nigeria; Dr. Stanley Jacob, Group Chief, Innovation and Technology at Meristem; and Ajibola Tobi-Osho, Executive Director of Tugrande Alliance Limited.

Their presentations covered the business case for ethical capital, the potential of pan-African payment systems and asset tokenisation, and Nigeria’s macroeconomic outlook.  

The discussions reinforced The Alternative Bank’s position that building a resilient Nigerian economy requires shared-risk, non-interest financial structures that give investors confidence and ensure investments create cross-generational value.  

The bank said it will continue to champion financial models that link capital directly to real assets and productive activity as part of its mandate to drive inclusive and sustainable wealth creation.