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Nigeria Cash-Strapped, Growth Insufficient to Improve Lives- Moody
Nigeria is trapped in a low growth path for the time being, according to Moody’s Investors Service, the global credit rating agency.
Aurelien Mali, vice president – senior credit officer, Sovereign, said that the government revenue weakness remained a key credit challenge, adding that the country’s balance sheet had “deteriorated to a level that is worrisome.”
Moody’s noted that the country’s real GDP growth remained subdued at 1.9 per cent in 2018 following 0.8 per cent in 2017, saying, “This growth level remains insufficient to markedly improve Nigerian living standards.”
Mali, in his presentation at Moody’s Nigeria Annual Summit in Lagos, said the current policy mix would lead to the same subdued real growth, with limited room to manoeuvre.
Moody’s, in its latest credit update on Nigeria, set the country’s issuer rating at B2 with a stable outlook
“The stable outlook is predicated on the low likelihood of a shock that will further impair Nigeria’s economic and fiscal strength,” Mali said.
According to the rating agency, the country’s credit profile is constrained by an underdeveloped revenue base, a very low level of institutional strength and a fractious political landscape.
It said the stable outlook reflected the degree of resilience in Nigeria’s economic and fiscal strength at the B2 level, with external vulnerabilities having receded, supported by the rebound in oil price and production, the current account projected to remain in surplus, and reserves boosted through external borrowings and increased foreign capital inflows.
According to the agency, Nigeria’s institutional strength score is “very low (-)”.
“The very weak institutional strength is rooted in core deficiencies: a history of opaque economic policymaking, a high incidence of corruption, and long delays in executing critical structural reforms. Macroeconomic policymaking has improved, but consolidated budgeting and public financial management – at federal, state, and municipality levels – remain opaque and slow,” it said.
Moody’s stated that the authorities’ efforts to reduce corruption in the public sector and revive the oil sector had the potential to improve overall institutional strength and to promote greater savings of oil revenue in the Excess Crude Account over time.
It said, “While the government’s external debt burden remains relatively low, the moderate score reflects the country’s high interest payments to revenue ratio, which has averaged 25 per cent over the last three years, well above the B2 median of 11.4 per cent.
“In addition, Nigeria’s fiscal buffers are relatively small: its Excess Crude Account is almost depleted and its sovereign wealth fund stands at around $2bn (equivalent to 0.5 per cent of GDP). We expect general government debt to hover around 25 per cent of GDP in the coming years.”
The agency set government liquidity risk at “low (+)”, saying, “Debt is mostly denominated in local currency and is refinanced largely by the local capital market, with liquid banks and pension funds exhibiting continued willingness to buy more government instruments.
“The government is increasingly shifting towards external borrowing sources to lower its interest burden, taking advantage of strong appetite from international investors. The debt management strategy will only show results slowly.”
Moody’s noted that Nigeria’s general government revenue-to-GDP ratio reached eight per cent in 2018 and “has for years been at the weakest level among all the sovereigns that we rate.”
It said, “Consequently, the country’s debt affordability metrics have also been aggravated by a rising interest burden, with Nigeria’s key interest-to-revenue ratio surging to 22.9 per cent in 2018 from 11.1 per cent in 2014.
“Interest payments have consumed on average close to 25% of general government revenue since 2016. This increase challenges the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts and limits its ability to increase capital expenditures to improve infrastructure and boost the economy’s potential.”
Union Bank of Nigeria has secured certification under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) version 4.0.1, a global standard for protecting payment card data.
The certification took effect on August 11, 2026, confirming that the bank’s systems for storing, processing and transmitting customers’ credit and debit card information meet stringent international security requirements.
PCI DSS certification is designed to reduce the risk of payment card data breaches and financial fraud while strengthening customer confidence in electronic payment systems.
The assessment covered key areas of Union Bank’s operations, including network infrastructure, card issuance, ATM and POS transactions, payment processing, reconciliation, settlement, chargebacks, dispute resolution and retail banking.
Union Bank was assessed and certified under the Service Provider category.
The certification process lasted a full year and involved quarterly assessments, with support from departmental, business and functional heads across the bank. Digital security firm Digital Encode supported the process, while the final independent audit was conducted by CyberCube, an accredited Qualified Security Assessor.
Yetunde B. Oni, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank, said the certification demonstrates the bank’s commitment to protecting customer information.
“The security of our customers’ information is central to everything we do at Union Bank. This certification reaffirms that our payment systems and processes meet a rigorous global standard, and it reflects the discipline of colleagues across the Bank who work every day to keep customer data safe.”
The renewal also ensures that Union Bank maintains continuous PCI DSS certification, in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s requirement for banks to sustain compliance without interruption.
New data from CFA Society Nigeria is reshaping how the country’s financial sector thinks about talent development, with Access emerging as the single largest source of CFA candidates in Nigeria, distinction industry watchers say signals a deeper shift in how leading institutions are building investment expertise from within.
In its Where Nigeria’s Finance Professionals Work series, published in a national daily, CFA Society Nigeria placed Access first among employers of CFA candidates nationwide, with 82 candidates enrolled in the programme, more than double the 38 recorded at the next-placed institution and well ahead of every other bank or financial services firm on the list.
Access also ranked second among employers of CFA charterholders, with 11 professionals who have completed all three levels of the Programme and met its experience and ethics requirements.
For an industry that has long measured itself by balance sheet size and branch count, the rankings point to a different kind of competition: one over who is building the deepest bench of certified, globally credentialed talent.
CFA Society Nigeria compiled the data from its Salesforce Membership Database as at June 2026, and described the exercise as a way of recognising employers whose people “bring rigour, integrity and global best practices into the workplace every day.”
Analysts following the sector say the outcome is notable less for the ranking itself than for what it suggests about talent strategy across Africa’s financial services industry. A single institution developing more aspiring charterholders than the rest of the market combined raises the floor for professional standards nationally, not just within one balance sheet.
Every candidate who advances through the CFA Programme adds to a shared pool of ethics-trained, analytically rigorous professionals that Nigeria’s capital markets, pension funds and asset managers all eventually draw from.
Access Holdings Group Chief Executive Officer Innocent C. Ike, commenting on the rankings, framed the achievement in terms of institution-building rather than recruitment: “Every candidate on that list represents our commitment to building institutions and professionals that endure.”
The remark echoes a broader thesis increasingly voiced by market observers, that talent depth, not scale alone, is what will determine which African financial institutions earn lasting global credibility.
That distinction sits at the centre of Access’s stated ambition to become the World’s Most Respected African Financial Services Group. If the CFA numbers are any indication, the Group’s route to that goal runs less through square metres of branch network and more through the calibre of the people sitting inside it, a bet that Nigeria’s finance professionals, and the institutions that will one day hire them, are already placing alongside Access.
Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced plans to introduce Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) baggage tracking technology across domestic and international airport terminals to tackle the growing problem of delayed, misrouted and missing luggages
Michael Achimugu, director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, disclosed this at a stakeholder engagement forum in Lagos.
Achimugu said the RFID-enabled system would replace the traditional barcode-based baggage tracking framework and provide airlines and passengers with real-time visibility of checked luggage from check-in to final collection.
According to him, the technology would improve baggage traceability, reduce mishandling and strengthen accountability across the baggage-handling chain.
Unlike conventional barcode systems, RFID technology allows baggage to be automatically scanned at multiple points without requiring direct line of sight, enabling real-time tracking of luggage throughout its journey.
Achimugu said issues involving short-landed, missing, lost or damaged baggage had remained among the major complaints from air travellers, alongside flight delays.
He said the introduction of RFID technology was therefore aimed at improving baggage-handling standards and restoring passenger confidence in the aviation sector.
The NCAA said the initiative also aligns with IATA Resolution 753, which requires airlines to track baggage at key points during the passenger journey.
The authority expects the technology to provide more accurate information on the location of luggage, facilitate quicker resolution of baggage-related complaints and improve the overall passenger experience.
The NCAA said the initiative would also strengthen accountability among airlines and other stakeholders involved in baggage handling at Nigerian airports.
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