The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will continue to promote and adopt policies that will facilitate foreign investment into the country.
The apex bank’s Director of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, gave this assurance thorugh a statement which clarified why sanctions were imposed on some banks involved in the CCIs transactions for MTN Nigeria, one of the telecommunications companies in the country.
He stated: “We wish to restate that the CBN will continue to welcome foreign investments and investors. Indeed, some of our recent innovations and reforms of the Foreign Exchange regime such as the introduction of the NAFEX window, are designed to simplify foreign exchange regulations.
“Furthermore, the delegation of the issuance of Certificates of Capital Importation (CCIs) to commercial and merchant banks some years ago was done to instill confidence in the investor community and encourage the flow of foreign direct and portfolio investments into the Nigerian economy”, Okorafor added.
The apex bank insisted that the recent sanctions imposed on four banks were due to irregularities with respect to repatriations made on behalf of MTN Nigeria Limited and were not in any way designed to restrict access to investor returns.
However, Okorafor hinted that in response to the recent regulatory actions, the banks and MTN were engaging the CBN in discussions and had provided additional information which is currently being reviewed with a view to arriving at an equitable resolution.
He stated further: “We assure all investors that the integrity of the CCI regime remains sacrosanct and there shall be no retroactive application of foreign exchange rules and regulations.
“The CBN welcomes all legitimate investors to take advantage of the enormous investment opportunities in Nigeria” the CBN spokesperson added.
