The Conference of Western Attorneys-General (CWAG) has joined its voice to calls for access to credit to help Nigeria grow its Gross Domestic Product.
CWAG provides a forum for chief legal officers of member-states and jurisdictions to cultivate knowledge cooperate on concerns and coordinate actions which improve the quality of legal services available to members.
The CWAG Africa Alliance Partnership (AAP) seeks to establish and foster robust relationships with justice and law enforcement agencies and officials in Africa to support the rule of law and combat transnational criminal activity.
The group said growing the GDP would require a wider access to credit and a regulated environment for credit reporting.
C-WAG/AAP co-organised a workshop on Credit reporting as the foundation of credit infrastructure in collaboration with the Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria (CBAN) and the Lagos Business School in Lagos.
Founder of Credit Registry and a pioneer of credit reporting in Nigeria, Mr. Taiwo Ayedun, said there was an urgent need for increased access to credit for the economy and GDP is to grow.
Comparing Nigeria to other developed countries, he said it was important to have a good credit reporting and scoring behaviour which he said would aide consumer lending.
Ayedun said: “The US GDP which is about $19 trillion. I found that mortgage and consumer spending concluded 67percent of the US GDP. And a lot of that consumer and mortgage spending is based on the credit been given by American banks.
“So, it makes sense that if Nigeria is going to increase in GDP, it would need to be able to help banks to give more credit to Nigerians.
“Global Credit coverage around the world shows that North America, Canada, United States, Germany, UK and Ireland are 100 percent covered while Nigeria has only about 7.8 per cent coverage, according to this survey which was done in 2017.
“However, there is evidence that a society where trust is well established, there is more commerce going on.”
Ayedun said with increased credit flows to consumers and small businesses, there would be economic activities, which have direct correlation to GDP and economic growth as the quantum of transactions leads to more productivity.
According to him, when a consumer is able to spend more, economic activities would be enhanced and the producers would have to increase production to meet the demand, which ultimately leads to employment generation.
Ayedun called for a decrease in interest rate which he believes would substantially increase access to credit.
“One of the things I think would help individuals and small businesses to take loans is an affordable interest rate because if you take loans at a very high interest rate it makes it difficult to pay back,” he said.
Ayedun advised that policy makers to ensure the credits are not mostly given to businesses and consumers who plan to majorly import, which he said would defeat the purpose.
Also at the event were Senior Partner, Punuka Attorneys & Solicitors Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), Managing Director/Chief Executive Office CreditRegistry Mrs. Jameelah Sharrieff-Ayedun and Dr. Hassan Mahmud of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Macro Prudential Analysis, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, among others.
Leave a Reply