Banks Must Make Huge Profit To Grow Economy- Ovia

The founder of Zenith Bank Plc, Jim James Ovia, has said that for the economy to grow, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must make policies that will allow banks to grow and make huge profits.

He made this known on Wednesday during the consultative round table on growth at the apex bank’s head office in Abuja.

The discussion which witnessed the presence of bank Chief Executives and business moguls including the CEO of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, was an emergency response to the negative impact of the coronavirus. which has already hit the country.

Ovia, during his speech, urged the CBN to continue to strengthen the banking industry through its policies, because the sector was a competitive advantage the economy had over its African counterparts.

He said if banks were solid and strong, the country’s economy would grow, adding that the economy would not grow under a weak and unprofitable baking sector.

According to Ovia: “if your banks are solid and strong, your economy will grow (going for growth). How can you grow the economy if your banks are not solid? They have to make huge profits.”

He said that if the banking industry grew and made huge profit, it would drive other sectors in the economy to achieve the same effect.

Ovia suggested that the coronavirus was a wake-up call to the global economy, and urged the government to take preventive measures now that the spread had not gone out of control in the country.

He added that the economy was not insulated from the world global financial market, which had crashed on Monday following the global fall in oil price.

The crash in the market was similarly reflected in the Nigerian Stock exchange as it crashed during the “black Monday”.

Meanwhile, the tycoon praised the role played by the CBN through the introduction of what he called the ‘rice pyramid’, which he said would further strengthen the economy like the era of the cocoa and groundnut pyramids.