Chris Onalo, registrar of the National Institute of Credit Administration, has described the inauguration of the board of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation as a positive development.

The federal government on Thursday inaugurated the board of CREDICORP.

CREDICORP was established in April 2024 to operate as a development finance institution, expanding access to affordable consumer credit for Nigerians.

Mr Onalo, in an interview on Monday, urged the federal government to leverage NICA’s expertise to ensure professionalism and adequate capitalisation, which are critical to the success of the new credit framework.

He said credible board appointments and an increased capital base of key national credit institutions would strengthen the nation’s transition to a credit-driven economy.

He said Nigeria’s evolving credit architecture, including the National Credit Guarantee Company, would only achieve meaningful impact if governance structures were strengthened and funding substantially increased.

According to him, credit institutions are people-oriented and require boards composed of core professionals with a deep understanding of credit economy management.

“You must have a credible board that inspires confidence and provides sound governance. If appointments are not based on competence and professional balance, the system may be undermined,” he said.

Mr Onalo, however, expressed concern over what he described as the exclusion of NICA, an institute established by an Act of Parliament, from the governance framework of emerging credit institutions.

He noted that NICA had consistently advocated for the establishment of consumer credit and credit guarantee schemes over the years and had provided advisory support to successive administrations.

The registrar said Nigeria’s previous industrialisation efforts in the 1980s and 1990s were weakened by limited access to structured credit, adding that the dominance of an oil-driven cash economy stifled long-term industrial growth.

He commended President Bola Tinubu for signalling a shift toward a credit culture, noting that a functional credit system would promote transparency, reduce corruption and expand economic participation.

He described the current capital allocation to the institutions as inadequate relative to Nigeria’s population, market size and industrial ambitions.

He added that the NCGC’s initial capital base of N100 billion was too small and should be increased to between N3 trillion and N4 trillion.

(NAN)