Nigeria needs focused leadership to tackle economic challenges, says Chioke

* Afrinvest unveils 2022 banking sector report tomorrow
Group Managing Director of Afrinvest West Africa Limited, Ike Chioke, said Nigeria needs a focused leadership to navigate the current economic challenges. He added that the situation could deteriorate further before the economy starts picking up.

He said this at an interactive session to unveil activities lined up for the company’s 27th anniversary holding tomorrow.

As part of the commemoration, Afrinvest is unveiling a digital product that would launch the investment bank into the evolving virtual banking.

The product, Optimus by Afrinvest, will serve as a bank on the go, helping subscribers to invest in securities and make deposits, in both local and foreign currencies, for investment purposes.

The platform promises to give seven subsidiaries of the group access to different parts of the country and help them to optimise the costs of operations.

At the launch, the investment bank will also unveil its new identity to align with the new demand of the financial system.

Chioke described Optimus as a digital wealth management platform that will increase the company’s touchpoints across the country and ultimately take it to other African markets.

“Optimus is a digital wealth management platform that we have been working on for the past two years. It will harmonise banking services and brokerage. With technology, you can set up touchpoints where customers can relate without physical presence. So, Optimus is a market touchpoint,” Chioke said.

He also revealed that the company’s flagship market intelligence, the 2022 Banking Sector Report, will be released tomorrow.

Speaking on the report and the economy, Chioke said things would probably get worse for the country before they get better. He said the PMS subsidy would necessarily need to be removed to expand the room for economic growth.

But he warned that Nigerians would need to brace up for temporary pain before the economy would find its bearing.

He added that focused leadership is required to navigate economic challenges.