Economy

CBN Forex Exclusion Policy Dangerous to Economy—LCCI

Published

7 years ago

12/08/2019

By Dipo Olowookere

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in order to stimulate economic growth and boost local production in the country, restricted the supply of foreign exchange (forex) to some items that can be easily produced in Nigeria.

This gave rise to the 43 items on the forex restriction list. What this means is that importers of items on the list would not be able to get foreign exchange directly from the windows created by the apex bank to bring the products into the country, but only at the black market.

Recently, the central bank announced the addition of milk to the list and this generated mixed reactions from Nigerians, experts and economists.

Also commenting on the matter was the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), which said the forex restriction policy of the CBN was harmful to the nation’s economy.

According to the agency, Nigeria is not ripe for the forex restriction policy on milk importation because it would create a crisis of immense proportions in the dairy industry supply chain and put investments worth billions of dollars at risk.

The LCCI noted further that the policy will do more harm than good, both to investors and the citizens because it would trigger avoidable disruptions and dislocations in the investment environment and further undermine investors’ confidence and create huge supply gaps in the market with severe harmful consequences.

“We currently do not have dairy cows in the country. The dominant milk producing system in Nigeria is the Fulani Nomadic System whose cows have a milk yield of less than two litres a day; whereas, a good dairy cow will produce an average of 28 litres of milk per day over 10 months.

“During peak lactation, a high yielding dairy cow can produce as high as 60 litres of milk per day. The reality is that Nigerian cows have very low yield because of poor genetic composition, poor feeding practices and the laborious nomadic system of breeding. These are fundamental issues that we need to fix before contemplating any form of import restriction.

“These are challenges to be posed to the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources at the federal and state levels as the present administration moves to the next level. These are the agencies of government that have primary responsibilities for such matters. The environment needs to be created for these investments to happen,” the agency said in a statement to react on the matter.

In the statement signed by its Director General, Mr Muda Yusuf, the LCCI warned that the policy could lead to a massive job loss, pointing out that, “There are over one million direct and indirect jobs that will be in jeopardy across the value chains of these industries.”

“These companies engage Nigerians as employees, distributors and retailers as well as thousands of suppliers and service providers who are dependent on these businesses for their livelihood. For a country that is grappling with unemployment crisis, the consequences will be too grave. Therefore, there are profound investments, economic, nutritional and social issues to worry about,” it said.

The agency said additionally, such policy will boost the smuggling economy since there will be an estimated 50 percent short fall in the supply of dairy products to the Nigerian market, with the supply gaps creating scarcity and put the prices of the products beyond the reach of the average Nigerian.

It further warned that there would be loss of revenue to the government as smugglers naturally move to fill the supply gaps in the market, adding that there is a major risk of closure/drastic scaling down of operations of existing investments in the dairy industry.

According to the LCCI, there will be a higher risk of malnourishment of citizens especially children and the low-income earners, heightened risk of loss of jobs in the dairy sector, while neighbouring countries will profit from the increased smuggling triggered by the policy, as the Nigeria ports and maritime sector workers loose revenue and jobs to the ports of the neighbouring countries.

In the statement, the LCCI urged the CBN to give enough timeline to diary companies for a sustainable transition from the current state of affairs to the desired level of backward integration in the dairy industry.

“There should be robust incentives to attract investors to the supply chain in the dairy industry in line with the backward integration aspiration.

“The ministries of Agriculture and Water resources should take on the challenge of driving this change process through the creation of incentives for modern animal husbandry facilities and practices.

“There should be generous support from government to facilitate the importation of cattle breed [dairy cows] suitable for milk production, it said.

“On account of the foregoing, we urge the CBN to put on hold its proposal to exclude the dairy industry investors from the foreign exchange market in order to save the economy of the consequential shocks, business disruptions, investment dislocations and job losses,” the LCCI concluded in the statement.

Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,383 Per Dollar at NAFEX

Published

6 minutes ago

30/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira crashed against the United States Dollar by N2.70 0r 0.2 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, June 29, to N1,383.63/$1 from last Friday’s exchange rate of N1,380.93/$1.

This was influenced by FX pressure on the domestic currency, which also weakened its exchange rate against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment during the session by N6.06 to N1,831.64/£1 from the previous value of N1,824.90/£1. It also depleted the Nigerian currency against the Euro by 45 Kobo, trading at N1,578.03/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,577.58/€1.

However, it maintained stability against the greenback at the parallel market and the GTBank forex desk yesterday at N1,395/$1 and N1,387/$1, respectively.

Despite the pressure on the Naira, it is still trading within the expected range, as a result of ongoing FX reforms, stronger market liquidity, and increased transparency in the FX market.

Unlike in previous years, the improved stability is reflected in the relatively narrow spread between the official exchange rate and rates in the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment, suggesting that reforms introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are helping to improve price discovery and reduce distortions.

Also, Nigeria’s external reserves, which provide the apex bank with the capacity to support the Naira and meet the country’s external obligations, have continued to trend upward. Most recent data published on the apex bank’s website showed that reserves rose to $51.29 billion as of June 26, 2026.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) lost momentum after it dropped below $60,000, remaining under its 200-week moving average as currency markets swung following the Japanese Yen slipping to four-decade lows against the US Dollar.

Strategy, the largest public holder of bitcoin, plans to sell more than $1 billion of BTC as part of a $1.25 billion monetisation program, a sharp break from Michael Saylor’s long-held “never sell” stance. BTC traded at $59,463.89.

Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.9 per cent to $0.0723, TRON (TRX) slipped by 0.8 per cent to $0.3196, Cardano (ADA) dipped 0.2 per cent to $0.1446, and Ripple (XRP) dropped 0.1 per cent to close at $1.04.

On the flip side, Solana (SOL) gained 2.5 per cent to sell at $73.99, Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,587.51, and Binance Coin (BNB) added 0.01 per cent to sell for $552.58, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.

Economy

NGX Diarrhoea Persists, Further Loses 1.57% Amid Panic Sell-Offs

Published

2 hours ago

30/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Panic sell-offs by investors have left the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited losing weight very fast, as it further gave up 1.57 per cent on Monday.

Yesterday, only 17 equities ended on the advancers’ log, while 45 equities finished on the laggards’ chart, representing a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.

All the major sectors of the bourse tasted defeat during the session, with the insurance counter down by 1.33 per cent. The banking space lost 1.22 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.63 per cent, the industrial goods segment shed 0.39 per cent, and the energy sector tumbled by 0.06 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) stumbled by 3,682.70 points to 228,366.32 points from 232,049.02 points, and the market capitalisation slipped by N2.363 trillion to N146.542 trillion from N148.905 trillion.

Learn Africa lost 10.00 per cent to close at N9.00, MTN Nigeria also declined by 10.00 per cent to N747.00, Unilever Nigeria crashed by 10.00 per cent to N126.00, Austin Laz dropped 9.94 per cent to settle at N3.17, and Universal Insurance dipped by 9.90 per cent to quote at N28.12.

Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance gained 4.08 per cent to end at N2.04, Cornerstone Insurance chalked up 3.45 per cent to trade at N6.00, Neimeth appreciated by 3.03 per cent to N8.50, Livestock Feeds climbed by 1.92 per cent to N7.95, and C&I Leasing grew by 1.90 per cent to N5.35.

Business Post observed a surge in activity level on the first trading day of this week, with the trading volume, value, and number of deals up by 156.37 per cent, 137.50 per cent, and 38.50 per cent.

This was because market participants transacted 996.5 million stocks worth N43.7 billion in 61,813 deals on Monday compared with the 388.7 million stocks valued at N18.4 billion traded in 44,631 deals last Friday.

Ikeja Hotel exchanged 305.5 million shares for N13.2 billion, Access Holdings sold 289.9 million equities worth N6.6 billion, Dangote Sugar traded 29.4 million stocks valued at N1.9 billion, Chams transacted 22.0 million shares worth N87.9 million, and Zenith Bank traded 21.2 million equities for N2.4 billion.

Economy

Oil Prices Climb Over 1% as Fragile US-Iran Truce Faces New Concerns

Published

3 hours ago

30/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices settled higher by more than 1 per cent on Monday after attacks by the United States and Iran underscored ‌the fragility of their interim peace deal.

Brent crude futures gained $1.16 or 1.61 per cent to sell at $73.15 a barrel, while the US West ⁠Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude appreciated by $1.52 or 2.2 per cent to $70.75 per barrel.

The latest price movement appears to suggest that the market is concerned about a reduction in tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz following attacks on two commercial vessels on Thursday and Friday last week, and a further flare-up over the weekend.

The Thursday attack on the container ship Ever Lovely prompted some shipowners to pull back and wait for additional information about how safe transiting the Strait is. The US military on Friday carried out strikes on Iran in response to the attack on the vessel.

On Saturday, an Iranian attack on a Panama-flagged oil tanker, Kiku, while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz, prompted additional strikes by the U.S. forces.

After the flare-up this weekend, the US and Iran appear to have agreed to cease attacks ahead of tentatively planned new talks this week.

Iranian and US technical teams working on the implementation of an interim peace deal are expected to meet in Doha in the coming days, even after both sides carried out strikes over the weekend that threatened to derail the accord.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iranian and Omani experts will start talks on redefining transit paths through the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days, adding that his country will try to obstruct vessels outside of defined paths.

Analysts cautioned that traffic through the strait is far from being fully recovered, helping keep prices somewhat elevated as outbound Persian Gulf crude exports are quickly rebounding to at least 75 per cent of pre-war levels.

Middle East producers are pushing ahead with loading oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) despite fresh ship attacks ⁠in the Strait of Hormuz and renewed strikes between the US and Iran in recent days.

Saudi oil giant Aramco resumed crude oil loadings on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal, west of the Strait of Hormuz, after ⁠they were halted for nearly four months. Loadings continued even after a helicopter belonging to the company crashed on Sunday at Ras Tanura, killing 14 nationals. The cause of the crash was unknown.