By Stanley Opara

Experts in the Nigerian financial sector have have positioned the sector for a bright future.

They, however, urged the apex bank to continue to be objective with its actions, especially now that some mergers and acquisitions were taking place in the sector.

The Registrar, Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria, Mr. Peter Ikpamejo, in an interview with our correspondent on Friday, said the current reforms presented another opportunity for players in the financial sector, especially banking, to “right their wrongs.”

He said the positive comments of the Governor, CBN, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, on the country’s financial system, could bring back lost confidence in the sector.

Sanusi had said in an interview in London recently, that the rescued banks that failed the stress test were gearing towards mergers or other ways of business combinations to strengthen their positions.

He said troubled banks like the Unity Bank Plc and Wema Bank Plc had come out of the woods regarding the findings of the 2009 stress test jointly conducted by the CBN and the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, noting that they “have fixed their problems.”

Market analysts believe that this clarification was good in view of contrary speculations regarding the status of Unity Bank and Wema Bank.

The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Finance Houses Association of Nigeria, Mr. Benn Nwokike, said that with the activities of the apex bank and other stakeholders, the banking industry was expected to see a huge improvement in the medium and long-run.

According to him, merger and acquisition deals should be closed after thorough considerations and negotiations to avoid possible complications in the future, especially now that liquidity of the banks remain the major focus.

Sanusi had explained that the steps taken by the CBN on the rescued banks, were aimed at bringing more capital to those banks and making the banks healthy again.

Source: Punch