The Federal Government has asked the Board of the Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) to support Nigeria in maintaining its leading position as the powerhouse in regional trade in West Africa.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said at the inauguration of the reconstituted board of the bank in Abuja that with Nigeria’s economy accounting for about 55 per cent of the regional trade, NEXIM must help build the capacity of private sector entrepreneurs to expand trade in the region and beyond.

The minister, who acknowledged NEXIM as a very important part of government’s finance structure, said the bank, which was set up to support the country’s import and export trade, has so far proven its worth through the performance of its functions and delivering on its mandate.

“There are a lot of expectations from the government, which is embarking on a path of transformation of the economy by working with private sector to expand trade in the country and the West African region and beyond. NEXIM is critical to this process, if Nigeria is going to play its role as the power house within the West African sub-region and Africa,” the minister said.

She said though government was proud of the achievement of the management, a lot was expected from the new board members such as ensuring that NEXIM plays the role it should within the region, pointing out that there are a lot of entrepreneurs in the private sector that need the services of NEXIM to boost their businesses.

The Minister of State for Finance, Yerima Ngama, who also spoke at the event, hailed the management for turning around the fortune of the bank in the last three years.

He said that, prior to their tenure; NEXIM was running at a loss with lots of bad debts as a result of “a very bad credit culture.”

Mr. Ngama said last year was the third time in a row that the bank was posting profit on its balance sheet and declaring dividends to its shareholders; a development that has put the bank on a path of sustained profitability.

He said the management has also taken steps to clean up the balance sheet through the establishment of Debt Recovery Task Force which recovers bad debts and write off irrecoverable legacy loan, adding that efforts have been made to improve the credit culture through training and enforcement of strict credit evaluation processes.