Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has urged Central Bank Governors and other African financial sector regulators to be more vigilant in their regulatory and supervisory roles to prevent a run on banks in their respective jurisdictions.
According to a CBN statement, Emefiele gave the charge on Wednesday at the start of the 2023 African Central Bank Conference at the Global Leadership Center in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Speaking on current global dynamics and specific policy developments in Nigeria to address emerging shocks, he advised African central banks to learn from the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the United States of America by implementing regulations that will prevent any run on banks in their countries.
While sharing Nigeria’s experience in regulating banks, he noted that the threats posed to the financial system necessitated the release of new guidelines and regulations to tackle potential infringements and, in the process, protect depositors’ funds as well as promote greater transparency in the sector.
According to him, regulators must be alive to their responsibilities by ensuring that banks under their regulatory watch are financially healthy and do not suffer a similar fate as the Silicon Valley Bank, which, until its collapse recently, catered to many of the world’s most powerful tech investors.
