Diamond Bank has highlighted viable investment windows that will help restore investor confidence and shore up the value of assets and return on investment in Nigeria at Diamond Privilege seminar with the theme: ‘Investing in 2016, riding the storm, unearthing the opportunities.’
Uzoma Dozie, Diamond Bank’s chief executive officer, noted that although the investment environment has remained volatile, there was hope as one of the bank’s strategic focus is the commitment to help investors navigate to other sectors that would yield optimum return on investment. According to him, Diamond Privilege, the Bank’s Wealth Management unit, is fortified with knowledgeable, experienced and dedicated personnel that are ready to work with clients, guiding them appropriately to identify and leverage market opportunities. “
Bode Agusto, founder of Agusto & Co. and former Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, the chief speaker, and the discussion panelists, led by Aishah Ahmad, Head of Consumer Banking at the Bank, agreed that investment opportunities abound in real estate, education, health and agricultural sectors of the economy. They also pointed the huge investment opportunities in companies that are non-import dependent, critical sectors of the economy like electricity energy and FGN bonds especially as the borrowing level of the government to fund the budget is expected to rise.
Agusto noted that the key prices in every economy include interest rates, inflation rates, exchange rates and identified a fourth key price for Nigeria, the “the price of crude oil.” He further explained that the fundamentals that drive exchange rates are – the net flow from trade activities, net capital flows and the extent to which external reserves can act as a buffer and ability of a country to borrow to fund USD spending.
In her closing remarks, Ahmad stated that the seminar aligned with the bank’s strategic objective to incentivize customers and investors with comprehensive investment advice, especially as the bank has opted to exponentially grow its corporate market and maintain its strong foothold in the industry.