Central Bank of Nigeria governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has been named winner of the 2011 Central Bank Governor of the Year Award for Sub-Saharan Africa, for the second consecutive year, by the international magazine Emerging Markets.
The CBN stated yesterday in Abuja quoted the editor of the magazine, Taimur Ahmad, as saying that the awards recognise and honour leading policymakers in each region as adjudged by their editorial team, taking into account the views of leading regional experts.
He stated that Sanusi was recognised for the second year running “for his strong policy track record and continued bold reforms in monetary policy over the past year.”
The editor pointed out that “the Central Bank of Nigeria, under Governor Sanusi’s stewardship, has consistently been ahead of the curve. Governor Sanusi has also continued to push through a radical financial sector reform agenda, while having the courage to draw attention to corruption and misuse of funds,” he said.
In his acceptance speech, Sanusi attributed the award to the collective efforts of the entire CBN staff, the support of the federal government and the lawmakers of Nigeria.
He acknowledged that the reform process has been challenging, even as he affirmed that all the rescued banks will be fully recapitalised by the end of September 2011, thus concluding that phase of banking reform in Nigeria.
Sanusi further asserted that “we have done all of these without losing depositors’ fund”, noting that “the banks themselves are paying for the bail-out without recourse to taxpayers’ money”.
His remarks give an insight into the possibility that the Nigerian banking reform experience could provide some lessons for Europe, which has continued to grapple with its own financial crisis as bankruptcy looms for many of its countries, the CBN statement added.
He called for better preparedness for the inevitable repercussions on African countries.
The Emerging Markets Awards, an annual event alongside the IMF/World Bank annual meetings, was held at the weekend in Washington, D.C., and attended by central bank governors, finance ministers and bank chief executive officers from across Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Asia.
The CBN governor was accompanied to the event by the Nigerian ambassador to the United States of America, Prof. Ade Adefuye; Mr Tunde Lemo, deputy governor, operations, CBN; Dr.(Mrs.) Sarah Alade, deputy governor, economic policy; CEOs of some Nigerian banks and other well-wishers.