Why JP Morgans expanded operations in Nigeria, by MD

The Managing Director of J.P. Morgan West Africa Dapo Olagunju has explained why the investment bank decided to expand its operations in Nigeria.

The biggest investment in the world was granted approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to operate a banking licence after deposit of N50 billion, equivalent of $38 million.

It has maintained regional representative office in Nigeria before it decided to expand its operations to a merchant bank.

Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Olagunju said it was influenced by CBN’s professional regulation and impact of the recent economic reforms.

Olagunju said the reforms implemented over the past three to four years had turned the investment environment around for many investors.

He spoke on Tuesday at the 32nd Nigerian economic summit in Abuja.

According to him: ‘’I was here two years ago with James Dimon, the President/Group CEO of JP Morgans bank and it’s quite interesting because it was the first meeting he attended in a three-nation African trip. And he left with a very strong impression of Nigeria and the work that’s being done here.

‘’His first comment when we got to the room was, he was super impressed of the quality of conversations, the excitement in the room and the vibrancy of the youths that he also spoke with and that is very, very important. Though we are in this room but sometimes we don’t see it. You cannot aim to be an international bank or a global and not present in Nigeria.

‘’The headlines over the last three years sometimes have been filled with a number of companies that were exiting Nigeria but sometimes that doesn’t give you the full picture of the companies operating in Nigeria.  

‘’I would say JP Morgans has been part of the Nigerian story since 1960. We have maintained a continuous presence as regional office since 1982.

‘’The last time an international bank opened in Nigeria was probably in 2000 when we moved from military dictatorship to civilian democracy.

JP Morgans coming back at this time also signifies that the impact of the reforms that have been put in place since the last three, four years is almost at the same level.

‘’We could operate as a regional representative office for as long as we want but we are also very impressed with the level of banking regulations at the Central Bank.

‘’We think that the CBN is very well professional run at this time and we are essentially putting our money where our mouth is.’’