After an impressive 5.17 percent rise in the third quarter of 2013, the National Bureau of Statistics reported a year later that Nigeria’s GDP had grown at an annualised rate of 6.23 percent (see Fig. 1), showing, if nothing else, that the country was heading in the right direction. However, the figures in isolation obscure the problems facing Nigeria today, with falling oil prices, currency volatility, heightened political tensions and foreign capital outflows all having short-changed the economy in months past. The economic outlook for the country is therefore a mixed one at best, and with important indicators set to worsen in the months ahead, the coming year will be anything but plain sailing for local firms that refuse to adjust their strategies accordingly.
Still, the financial sector has exhibited impressive gains amid tough economic circumstances, spearheaded by a number of pioneering names that have taken major strides to overcome the aforementioned challenges and set the country on the straight and narrow. “The industry has fared well, as more corporates seek financing for expansion and financing means outside of conventional bank lending, which has become attractive due to the longer tenor, greater flexibility, and mostly lower cost”, says Elizabeth Ebi, Group Managing Director and CEO of Futureview Group.
Bonded in history
The company featured prominently in Nigeria’s investment banking landscape for the last 20 years, and the investment banking outfit was one of two stockbrokers and financial advisers appointed by the federal government to advise on the first NGN 150bn ($833m) bond to the public in 2003. That was the country’s largest ever offering of debt securities at the time, and Futureview is remembered even today for having a hand in a pivotal point in Nigeria’s financial history. Still, the firm’s contributions do not stop there, and the investment bank has since played a key role in supporting the Nigerian financial services sector and wider economy.
Futureview: financial services set to soar in Nigeria
After an impressive 5.17 percent rise in the third quarter of 2013, the National Bureau of Statistics reported a year later that Nigeria’s GDP had grown at an annualised rate of 6.23 percent (see Fig. 1), showing, if nothing else, that the country was heading in the right direction. However, the figures in isolation obscure the problems facing Nigeria today, with falling oil prices, currency volatility, heightened political tensions and foreign capital outflows all having short-changed the economy in months past. The economic outlook for the country is therefore a mixed one at best, and with important indicators set to worsen in the months ahead, the coming year will be anything but plain sailing for local firms that refuse to adjust their strategies accordingly.
Still, the financial sector has exhibited impressive gains amid tough economic circumstances, spearheaded by a number of pioneering names that have taken major strides to overcome the aforementioned challenges and set the country on the straight and narrow. “The industry has fared well, as more corporates seek financing for expansion and financing means outside of conventional bank lending, which has become attractive due to the longer tenor, greater flexibility, and mostly lower cost”, says Elizabeth Ebi, Group Managing Director and CEO of Futureview Group.
Bonded in history
The company featured prominently in Nigeria’s investment banking landscape for the last 20 years, and the investment banking outfit was one of two stockbrokers and financial advisers appointed by the federal government to advise on the first NGN 150bn ($833m) bond to the public in 2003. That was the country’s largest ever offering of debt securities at the time, and Futureview is remembered even today for having a hand in a pivotal point in Nigeria’s financial history. Still, the firm’s contributions do not stop there, and the investment bank has since played a key role in supporting the Nigerian financial services sector and wider economy.