By GINIKA OKOYE

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says the bank is targeting a diaspora reserve of one billion dollars by 2026.

Dr Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of CBN, said this at the 18th Annual Banking and Finance Conference organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Abuja on Tuesday.

Cardoso said the diaspora reserve currently stood at 600 million dollars.

According to him, the CBN has prepared the framework and done everything required to enable them meet the target by 2026.

“It is now over to the banks to make this happen.

“I want to commend all the banks that are driving this including Zenith, Access, Fidelity, all of them because they are many.

“I am taking a special interest in this thing and I want that to continue because it speaks volume and makes a huge difference on how our people in diaspora see us,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the two-day conference is: ‘The New Economic Playbook: The Intersection of Banking, Policy and Technology’. (NAN)