The Emir of Kano and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Muhammadu Sanusi II, on Tuesday, warned that the current Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, are misleading the public by failing to reflect the poverty and the deteriorating living standards experienced by most Nigerians.
Speaking in Lagos, Sanusi urged financial institutions, particularly in the Islamic finance sector, to target the informal and rural sectors to drive genuinely inclusive growth. He explicitly challenged Islamic financial institutions to go to the bottom of the pyramid and support small and medium enterprises (SMEs), tailors, and artisans who constitute the backbone of the employment market, in rural areas to achieve true inclusivity.
You cannot talk about inclusivity if you are not where the people are. Sitting in Lagos or Abuja and booking loans does not improve the lives of people in rural areas – Sanusi
He urges practitioners to mobilize capital for SMEs, tailors, and artisans who constitute the backbone of the employment market.
Emir Sanusi, delivered the keynote address at the 7th African International Conference on Islamic Finance (AICIF), emphasizing that the economic statistics often obscure the reality of poverty at the grassroots level, stressing that economic policies have created wealth concentrated in niche sectors and major urban centers, leaving rural populations behind.
Sanusi, when giving his speech, made reference to the global projections which states that by 2050, 85% of the world’s poor will live in Africa, with Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo accounting for half of that number. He specifically noted that 70% of Nigeria’s poor reside in the Northern region, which made it crucial for an urgent economic reform.
A GDP growth rate of 5% or 6% may look good, but if it comes from one niche sector, the vast majority of the population could be getting poorer while GDP is growing – Sanusi
He stressed that true economic progress must be measured by the improved welfare of the common person.
The former CBN Governor proposed that the Islamic finance industry has a moral and economic imperative to bridge this gap.
Sanusi also outlined social issues, calling for finance operators to address cultural practices that marginalize women, stressing their empowerment as key to shared prosperity in Africa.
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