• Receives Airtel Africa Team In Abuja

Caption: From left, Femi Adeniran, Director. Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Nigeria; Dinesh Balsingh, Chief Executive Officer of the company; Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the CBN; Sunil Taldar, Group CEO, Airtel Africa; and Jaideep Paul, Group CFO, Airtel Africa, during a strategic visit to the apex bank’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, to discuss issues bordering on rural digitisation and financial inclusion.

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, challenged telecommunications operators in the country to embrace backward integration by producing essential components like SIM cards, cables, and towers locally.

This shift, he argued, would ease demand for the U.S. Dollar, enhance the value of the Naira, create direct and indirect jobs, emphasising the need to localise key supply chains while expanding financial services to benefit ordinary Nigerians, and strengthening the economy.

Cardoso, who spoke in Abuja on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, when the management of Airtel Africa led by the Group Chief Executive Officer, Sunil Taldar, paid a courtesy visit to the CBN headquarters, emphasised how this will help the sector reduce its reliance on foreign exchange.

The CBN, he stressed, has spent the past 16 months stabilising the foreign exchange market, strengthening the Naira’s competitiveness, and boosting investor confidence in the Nigerian economy.

Beyond industry reforms, Cardoso highlighted the CBN’s broader vision of deepening financial inclusion and enhancing digital payment solutions for everyday Nigerians.

He announced plans for a high-level summit where the apex bank will partner key industry stakeholders to develop strategies that promote accessible, efficient, and innovative financial services.

According to him, “the CBN is committed to ensuring that financial services reach more Nigerians, especially in rural and underserved communities. Through collaboration with relevant agencies and industry players, we aim to build a more inclusive and digitally-driven financial ecosystem.”

He also reassured Airtel and other stakeholders that the CBN would take necessary steps to create an enabling environment for financial service providers, thereby fostering competition, innovation, and expanded access for Nigerians.

Speaking earlier, Taldar, who was accompanied by CEO, Airtel Nigeria, Dinesh Balsingh; Group Chief Financial Officer, Jaideep Paul; and the Director of Corporate Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility, Femi Adeniran, commended the CBN’s reforms and pledged support for backward integration, emphasising that reducing reliance on the dollar was in the mid to long-term interest of telecom operators.

Taldar reiterated Airtel’s commitment to deepening financial inclusion in Nigeria through technology-driven solutions and pledged continued collaboration with regulators to drive digitisation and economic growth.