As part of activities lined up for celebrating the 50 years anniversary of the creation of Lagos, the State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has expressed his readiness and willing to partner with the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CBIN) in hosting the 22nd edition of the World Conference of Banking Institute (WCBI).
Ambode said the conference would be a veritable vehicle for promoting investment potentials in the state.
A statement from the institute quoted Ambode to have said: “Lagos is going to be 50 next year and the President and chairman of Council of CIBN, Professor Segun Ajibola, has talked so much about the hosting right of the conference. As a government, we are also trying to brand Lagos as a world class city to live in, and so we will partner and support the conference and list it as part of the events to celebrate Lagos at 50 and use it as a platform to promote financial tourism for the State.”
The conference, which is scheduled for April 24 – 28, 2017, in Lagos, is a biennial global forum that brings together professionals from the financial services sector and other stakeholders engaged in banking operation, education and training. Since its inception in the United Kingdom in 1975, the major objective of the conference has been to provide a global platform for the review of achievements and emerging challenges concerning the functioning of Banking and Finance Institutes and their role in effectively supporting the Financial Sector’s Performance and Profitability. This will be the first time Nigeria is hosting the global conference.
Speaking while receiving members of the Governing Council of CIBN, ably led by Ajibola, the Lagos governor noted that the story of the growth and development of Lagos could not have been completed without the huge contribution of the financial service industry, adding that the sector remained a veritable vehicle that has been able to drive professionals to contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the State.
The governor commended the critical role played by the financial service industry in terms of creating employment, contributing to taxes and developing capacity.
“It will therefore be unfair not to appreciate and commend everything that the CIBN has actually done to the growth and development of Lagos,” he said
The Governor further stressed that Lagos, as the economic hub of Nigeria and the West African region, contributes about 70 percent of the financial services in the country. He therefore expressed optimism that the state in collaboration with CIBN was in a good stead to lead the nation out of recession.
