Business Post Contributor
By Bliss Okperan
A former Minister of Finance, Mr Olusegun Aganga, has charged the federal government to provide funding support for local manufacturers and exporters of high-value products in order to improve the value of the Naira in the foreign exchange (FX) market.
The value of the Nigerian currency has been going down in the parallel market segment of the forex market because of the inability of the country to earn more foreign currencies.
The nation’s main source of FX earnings, crude oil, has been facing challenges of theft in the oil-rich Niger Delta, causing a decline in the production of the commodity.
The country is not doing well with the exportation of its vast agricultural products, putting pressure on the Naira.
Business Post reports that on Thursday, the local currency plunged to a low of N1,155/$1 in the black market, and in the peer-to-peer (P2P) window, it crumbled to N1,165/$1.
To save the Naira from a total collapse, Mr Aganga has advised the central government to consider investing in domestic manufacturers rather than pumping scarce forex into the system in a bid to defend it.
“What is the wisdom in spending billions defending the naira when it continues to fall instead of investing in genuine manufacturers and exporters of high-value products that would earn Nigeria foreign income and more,” he said at the 3rd Adeola Odutola Lecture at the 51st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) on Thursday.
Nigeria is blessed with a variety of high-value products, which are agricultural products that are high in value.
They are generally divided into three categories of unprocessed items like fruits, vegetables and eggs; semi-processed products like roasted coffee, meats, and refined sugar; and processed products like milk, cheese, and breakfast cereals.
During his presentation, Mr Aganga said the government must take urgent steps to stop the free fall of the Naira, noting that business-friendly policies must also be formulated to quicken the recovery of the domestic currency.
“Unlike the trillions spent on subsidies, bailouts, the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), and the refineries, I can assure you that every Naira, no matter how large, that is well spent on the strategic industrial sectors can be easily recovered and will deliver tremendous benefits to the economy and the nation,” he said.
“Nigeria must produce for local consumption and more importantly for export, for the naira to be strong,” the former Minister declared.
