The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has placed access to credit at the centre of the next phase of monetary easing by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The association argues that lower headline borrowing costs alone may not translate into stronger industrial activity unless banks have sufficient liquidity to extend credit to productive businesses.

MAN, therefore, urges CBN to reduce the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), currently at 45 per cent for Deposit Money Banks, arguing that the high reserve requirement is limiting the funds available for lending to manufacturers and other productive sectors of the economy.

MAN’s call came against the backdrop of the CBN’s latest monetary policy decision, in which the apex bank cut the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 350 basis points to 23 per cent from 26.5 per cent, while retaining the CRR at 45 per cent for Deposit Money Banks and 16 per cent for Merchant Banks.

The CBN also retained the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.

Director-General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, welcomed the reduction in the MPR, describing it as a positive development that aligns with manufacturers’ expectation that monetary easing should follow a period of economic stabilisation.

According to him, the reduction signals a gradual departure from the exceptionally tight monetary conditions that have prevailed in recent periods and contributed to the weak performance of the manufacturing sector.

He said the lower MPR should help reduce borrowing costs and improve the operating environment for businesses, particularly manufacturers that depend heavily on working capital and investment financing.

“The adjustment is expected to lower the borrowing cost and improve the operating environment for businesses, particularly manufacturers whose activities depend heavily on working capital and investment financing,” Ajayi-Kadir said.

He added that the reduction in the policy rate would support manufacturers’ ability to finance inventory, raw materials, production cycles, equipment acquisition and business expansion.

However, MAN argued that the impact of the MPR cut could be weakened by the continued high CRR.

Ajayi-Kadir said retaining the CRR at 45 per cent for Deposit Money Banks and 16 per cent for Merchant Banks means that a substantial proportion of banks’ deposits would remain sterilised as reserves rather than being deployed as credit to businesses.

“While reserve requirements remain important for financial and monetary stability, the relatively high CRR may continue to constrain the proportion of deposits available for lending to productive sectors,” he said.

According to MAN, reducing the CRR would complement the MPR cut by improving banking-system liquidity and increasing the pool of funds available for credit to manufacturers.

“It is obvious that improved liquidity conditions could increase credit availability and strengthen businesses’ ability to meet short-term financing needs, but the benefits of the MPR reduction may not be fully realised if credit expansion to the real sector remains constrained because of the high CRR rate that reduces the available funds for lending or investment,” Ajayi-Kadir said.

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Airtel Money, the mobile money arm of Airtel Africa, has concluded plans to float on the London Stock Exchange in October.

Airtel Money’s chief executive, Ian Ferrao, made the disclosure Wednesday emphasising that the company would announce more details about the float in early October, including the indicative price range and number of shares to be offered, with final pricing to follow later in the month.

Airtel Africa had originally targeted a listing in the first six months of 2026 but delayed it to the second half of the year, blaming unfavourable market conditions as a result of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Several other companies also pushed back planned IPOs amid the market volatility caused by the conflict.

The company is hoping to raise about $800m (£601m) from the initial public offering (IPO) and is targeting a valuation of $8bn to $9bn, which would make it one of London’s largest listings in recent years.

Airtel Money has 53 million monthly active users across 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Uganda, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It operates through a network of branches and kiosks, which enable customers to load money on to their phones, withdraw cash and access other money services, and the company generated revenues of just under $1.4bn in the last financial year.

Airtel Money’s parent company is Airtel Africa, a telecoms provider that is part of the Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises, which is ultimately controlled by the billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal.

Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Olayemi Cardoso has estimated that Nigeria lost about three per cent of its gross domestic product to multiple foreign exchange windows.

Mr Cardoso spoke in Abuja on Tuesday while answering questions after the 307th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee.

He put the losses from the fuel subsidy regime at about 2.2 per cent of GDP, meaning the two distortions together cost the country roughly 5.2 per cent of GDP.

The committee cut the benchmark Monetary Policy Rate to 23 per cent from 26.5 per cent, a decision the governor described as an important operational realignment aimed at strengthening monetary policy transmission.

Mr Cardoso compared the cost of the old exchange rate system to the fuel subsidy, which he said was already a staggering amount of money.

The losses that we were making as a result of these multiple exchange rate windows was more. It was 3 per cent of GDP. So between those, you had 5.2 per cent of GDP lost,” he said.

Before the CBN introduced FX reforms in 2023 to unify exchange rates, Nigeria had different channels through which dollars could be bought and sold. Different rates applied to different users and transactions.