Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Olayemi Cardoso has emphasised the need for strong coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities to sustain Nigeria’s reform momentum and attract long-term investment.
In a statement on Monday, Cardoso underscored the importance of clear communication, credible data, and strong coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities as essential to preserving the country’s reform momentum and investor confidence.
He made the remarks at London Business School’s Wheeler Institute for Business and Development, during the “In Conversation with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria” dialogue held on Friday, October 10, 2025.
The session, supported by J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs and moderated by Professor Hélène Rey, Lord Bagri Professor of Economics, brought together policymakers, financiers, and academics to examine Nigeria’s reform path in a shifting global economy.
Opening the event, a senior advisor to the Governor, Dr. Nkiru Balonwu, framed the conversation as part of the Central Bank’s new ethos of transparency.
“Across the world, central banking is being redefined,” she said. “This dialogue represents the CBN’s belief in open communication, continuous learning, and the power of collaboration between policymakers, academia, and markets. Transparency isn’t just style, it’s policy.”
Cardoso explained that communication is itself a policy instrument.
“People talk about interest rates and reserves, but communication is the thread that holds monetary policy together. If citizens, investors, and markets don’t understand what you’re doing, policy loses power,” he said.
He said the Apex bank has made deliberate efforts to communicate the why behind recent reforms—from FX unification to subsidy rationalisation, so Nigerians and investors can interpret the pain of adjustment as the price of progress.
“Reforms delayed for decades have to be done decisively,” he said. “The cost of waiting was far greater than the pain of action. What we owe the public now is clarity, explaining the process and showing the results.”
The governor acknowledged the hardship caused by short-term shocks but insisted that trust in the policy process is beginning to grow. “We’re seeing a new conversation with Nigerians,” he said. “The reforms are starting to make sense because people can see the link between stability today and prosperity tomorrow.”
Coordinating the reform engine
Cardoso stressed that clear communication must go hand-in-hand with coordination across government.
“No central bank can stabilise an economy in isolation. Fiscal and monetary authorities must constantly shake hands, speaking the same language and heading in the same direction,” he stated.
He revealed that over the past year, the CBN has strengthened its joint working channels with the Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office, and other key agencies to ensure alignment on inflation management, revenue mobilization, and FX flows.
“When fiscal and monetary policy reinforce each other,” he said, “you get predictability. And predictability is what investors price.”
On his part, the Special Adviser on Financial Markets and Economic Policy, Mr. Mayokun Ajibade, elaborated on the operational dimension of that coordination.
“Macro stability isn’t achieved at press conferences, it’s achieved in the daily dialogue between institutions. Today, we have real-time data sharing between the CBN and fiscal authorities, joint scenario planning, and synchronised messaging to markets. That coherence is new, and it’s working,” he said.
Ajibade added that policy coherence has helped Nigeria weather recent global volatility in energy prices and the U.S. dollar cycle.
“Because the fiscal and monetary sides are now aligned, external shocks translate less violently into domestic prices,” he said.
During the interactive session, an attendee from the Centre for the Study of African Economies asked how the CBN plans to unlock growth after stabilisation.
Cardoso replied that the next phase is predictable policymaking that crowds in private capital.
“Now that volatility is easing, investors can price Nigeria again,” he said. “That predictability is the real catalyst for growth.”
Cardoso emphasised that communication also means transparency in data, maintaining that CBN is rebuilding confidence in Nigerian statistics by improving frequency, accessibility, and comparability with international standards.
“We’ve introduced new disclosure templates, regular market briefings, and investor engagement sessions,” he said. “When people trust your data, they can trust your decisions.”
He credited his leadership team, including Balonwu and Ajibade, for promoting what he called a “culture of coherence.”
“Stability is not just a macro outcome, it’s an institutional discipline,” Cardoso said. “It means one story, one message, one direction.”
Balonwu later added that the Bank’s shift toward clarity had already changed how markets and citizens perceive the institution.
“The governor’s insistence on communication has turned transparency into Nigeria’s new competitive advantage,” she said. “Confidence grows when leadership explains, not when it hides.”
In his closing remarks, Cardoso reflected on the broader significance of coordination and communication in reform management.
“What keeps me up at night is not inflation or reserves, it’s communication,” he said. “People must understand the journey, see evidence of progress, and believe that policy will stay consistent.”
He argued that once coherence and credibility become habits, Nigeria’s reform momentum will be self-sustaining. “Markets reward clarity, citizens reward honesty, and investors reward predictability,” he said. “That’s the triangle we’re building our economy on.”
The event ended with Professor Rey commending the CBN’s “refreshing openness” and its willingness to engage with the global policy community.
“This conversation shows that Nigeria’s Central Bank is not only stabilizing its markets,” she said, “it’s stabilizing expectations.”
The “In Conversation with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria” event was hosted by the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development at London Business School, featuring Governor Olayemi Cardoso in dialogue with Professor Hélène Rey, Lord Bagri Professor of Economics.
The session explored Nigeria’s evolving economic policy, financial reforms, and innovation agenda against the backdrop of global economic shifts. The event was supported by J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs, and attended by leaders from policy, academia, and the private sector.