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Volatility is not the problem. What Nigeria’s finance leaders are getting wrong about value creation - THE GUARDIAN
By : Adenike Ibirogba
In a room full of people who collectively manage, advise on, and influence billions of naira in capital, the most striking moment at the maiden NOLT Summit was not a bold prediction or a policy recommendation. It was a question that nobody could answer quickly.
How do you create lasting value in an economy where the rules of the game keep changing before the current move is finished?
That question sat at the centre of “From Volatility to Value: Strategic Finance in Uncertain Times,” the theme of the inaugural NOLT Summit held on Thursday, 30th April 2026 at The Anthonia in Ikoyi, Lagos. Convened by NOLT Finance, the CBN-licensed investment, credit, and financial advisory firm marking its fifth year of operations, the event brought together a calibre of financial minds rarely assembled outside of a boardroom.
Dr. Biodun Adedipe, one of Nigeria’s most respected economists and founder of B. Adedipe Associates, delivered the keynote, framing the structural forces reshaping the Nigerian and global financial landscape with the kind of specificity the room clearly came for. His central argument was pointed: volatility is not the enemy. The real danger lies in institutions that have built their entire strategic architecture around the assumption that stability is the default. In Nigeria’s current reality, that assumption is not just outdated. It is expensive.
The panels that followed tested that thesis from every angle. The lineup included Dr. Muyiwa Oni, Regional Head of Equity Research for West Africa at Standard Bank Group; Arnold Dublin-Green, CEO of Renaissance Capital Africa Asset Management; Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani, CEO of EnergyInc Advisors; Olaolu Alabi, Executive Director at CardinalStone; Samson Esemuede, Chief Investment Officer at Zrosk Investment Management; and Dolabomi Onanuga, Vice President for Business Development at Flutterwave. The sessions were anchored by Mrs. Seyi Bella, a member of the NOLT Finance Board.
What distinguished the NOLT Summit from the crowded calendar of Nigerian industry events was the absence of performance. There were no rehearsed talking points, no corporate pleasantries dressed up as insight. Panellists disagreed openly, follow-up questions were pointed, and more than once, the room went quiet in the way that only happens when a nerve has been struck.
