By Izuchukwu Mayor, Lagos
The Alternative Bank, said it held an executive intelligence briefing, Thursday, titled: ‘Beyond Interest’ aimed to advance the conversation around non-interest finance and the strategic deployment of patient capital into Nigeria’s productive economy.
In a statement, The Alternative Bank Chairman, Muhtar Bakare, was said to have challenged attendees to rethink how capital is deployed across the nation and emphasised the need to align private returns with productive national capacity.
Bakare was quoted as saying: “Extractive capital treats the economy chiefly as a place from which value is harvested. It may reward its owner, but it rarely leaves the economy stronger.
“On the other hand, productive capital invests in enterprises, assets and systems that grow over time. It creates income for workers, demand for suppliers, revenue for governments and sustainable returns for investors.
“It becomes productive wealth because the value it creates does not stop at the company’s gate. It puts down roots and improves the ground in which it is planted.”
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in a keynote address focused on the government’s role as a catalyst for private capital.
He detailed how public infrastructure investments, such as the Blue and Red Line rail systems, expand markets and transform economic opportunities by reducing logistics costs and increasing business viability.
“The future of finance will belong to capita that is more purposeful, innovative and closely connected to productive economic activity,” said Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Commissioner for Finance, Abayomi Oluyomi.
He added that “The future of development finance will increasingly draw on instruments including green bonds, sukuk and other ethical and non-interest structures that connect capital to real assets, productive activity and measurable outcomes.
“The future of finance, in other words, is not only about the price of capital. It is increasingly about the quality of the economic activity that capital enables.
“The Government cannot eliminate every risk that investors face, but it can reduce risks arising from poor infrastructure, unclear regulation, weak coordination, unpredictable policy and institutional uncertainty. Investors do not invest in government promises; they invest in credible systems.”
The future of finance, in other words, is not only about the price of capital. It is increasingly about the quality of the economic activity that capital enables.
A former Lagos State Governor and former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, in his remarks, emphasised that investments tied to tangible, productive assets and community well-being generate far more lasting value than capital strictly pursuing immediate, short-term profits.
He consequently called on financial decision-makers and institutions to carefully consider the broader, long-term social returns of their funding allocations.
Other speakers included Abubakar Suleiman, Promoter of Non-Interest Banking in Nigeria and Board Member, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc; Dr. Stanley Jacob, Group Chief, Innovation and Technology at Meristem.
There was also Ajibola Tobi-Osho, Executive Director of Tugrande Alliance Limited, who made a case for ethical capital; the potential of pan-African payment systems & asset tokenisation, and the nation’s macroeconomic outlook, respectively.
Discussions at the event underscored AltBank’s belief that navigating the complexities of the Nigerian economic landscape demands a robust architecture for protection.
By integrating comprehensive, shared-risk solutions, the Bank provides the structural confidence required to ensure that today’s investments generate lasting, cross-generational value for both families and the wider economy.
