The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been named Central Bank of the Year 2026 by the Central Banking Awards Committee in London, marking a significant global recognition of Nigeria’s economic recovery efforts. The award, announced during the 13th annual Central Banking Awards, coincided with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s state visit to the United Kingdom, drawing international attention to the nation’s reformed financial landscape.
The honours committee noted that Nigeria’s economy had been in crisis, having fallen from Africa’s largest economy in 2014 to fourth place behind South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria, with inflation surging from about 15.4 per cent in November 2021 to over 22 per cent.
Governor Olayemi Cardoso’s leadership has been acknowledged globally for the significant impact in steering the economy to the path of growth and stability. Since taking office, Cardoso and his leadership team rejected and reversed recent monetary financing while implementing disciplined monetary tightening and foreign exchange market reform, including the clearance of billions of dollars of outstanding obligations.
The reforms yielded tangible results. External reserves rose to about $46.7 billion by November 2025, the highest in nearly seven years, while inflation dropped to about 15.10 per cent by January 2026 from 27.5 per cent by late 2024.
On the banking sector, more than 33 banks raised fresh capital through the recapitalization programme, with at least 20 already meeting the new requirements ahead of the March 31, 2026 deadline.
Christopher Jeffery, Editor-in-Chief of Central Banking and chairman of the awards committee, stated: “The CBN’s leadership team has demonstrated plenty of courage and the CBN showed significant institutional strength to facilitate the rebuilding of unencumbered FX reserves and declining inflation”.
International rating agencies also acknowledged the impact of the reforms, with Fitch Ratings upgrading Nigeria’s credit rating from B- to B with a stable outlook in April 2025, while Moody’s, an international credit rating agency that evaluates the creditworthiness and financial health of countries, corporations, and financial institutions, raised its rating from Caa1 to B3 in May.
