Economy
CBN Forex Exclusion Policy Dangerous to Economy—LCCI
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.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Financial educator and coach, Mrs Wemimo “Wems BO” Bolu-Opaniran, is set to host the maiden edition of the Wems BO Personal Finance Retreat 1.0, a weekend event aimed at helping participants improve their financial literacy and develop practical money management skills.
According to a statement, the retreat is designed to make personal finance engaging and accessible through interactive sessions, games, networking opportunities, and one-on-one coaching sessions.
The organisers said the event will focus on providing attendees with practical and actionable financial knowledge rather than conventional lecture-style teaching.
“Come and unravel financial wisdom and leave with a practical and concrete action plan,” the organisers stated in a statement.
Activities lined up for the retreat include interactive finance sessions, networking opportunities, personal finance workbooks, games and activities, food and souvenirs, as well as three months of exclusive access to the event replay.
Speaking on the rationale for organising the event, Wems BO noted that lack is primarily not always the reason people have bad finances, but often, money culture is.
“The way one sees and treats money has been a development from years and decades past. So, what to do about money is not the solution. It is mindset, defaults and motivations shaping decisions.
The solution is an inner inquiring on why you do what you do, beyond money. Understanding who you are, then beginning to drive decisions that make you grow, manage and scale your finances in a way that aids the life you want,” she told Business Post.
Participants will also have the opportunity to receive one-on-one coaching with the finance guru.
The event is scheduled to be held from Friday, July 17 to Saturday, July 18, 2026, at an in-house venue on Lagos Mainland.
Ticket prices were pegged at N40,000 for individual attendees and N76,000 for duo tickets, with organisers noting that limited slots remain available.
Interested participants can register through the official registration link.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A 0.91 per cent growth was recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, May 22, after the share prices of four securities ended in green.
According to data, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc went up by N15.61 to N179.67 per share from N164.06 per share, Newrest Asl Plc grew by N6.11 to N67.26 per unit from N61.15 per unit, Food Concepts Plc appreciated by 17 Kobo to N2.75 per share from N2.58 per share, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc added 6 Kobo to sell at N25.50 per unit compared with the previous day’s N25.44 per unit.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation chalked up N23.22 billion to settle at N2.561 trillion versus Thursday’s N2.538 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 38.81 points to 4,281.28 points from 4,242.47 points.
During the session, the price of Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was down by N3.13 to N71.07 per share from N74.20 per share.
The activity chart showed that the volume of securities transacted by the market participants decreased yesterday by 81.6 per cent to 590,339 units from the 3.2 million units recorded on Thursday, as the number of deals shrank by 28.6 per cent to 30 deals from the 42 deals recorded a day earlier, while the value of securities increased by 0.5 per cent to N95.3 million from the preceding session’s N94.8 million.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc closed the day as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 61.2 million units traded for N4.1 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was GNI Plc, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange witnessed a decline in transactions on Friday despite closing higher by 0.22 per cent on the back of sustained bargain-hunting.
During the last trading session of the week, investors transacted 711.9 million equities valued at N29.1 billion in 62,386 deals compared with the 1.1 billion equities worth N31.0 billion traded in 62,448 deals in the previous day, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 35.28 per cent, 6.13 per cent, and 0.10 per cent, respectively.
Fidelity Bank closed the day as the most active stock with the sale of 198.1 million units for N4.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 69.7 million units worth N1.8 billion, Mutual Benefits exchanged 42.7 million units valued at N197.4 million, Japaul transacted 33.9 million units worth N134.4 million, and Zenith Bank sold 24.4 million units valued at N3.2 billion.
Yesterday, the industrial goods index rose by 0.53 per cent, the consumer goods sector jumped 0.28 per cent, the banking industry improved by 0.25 per cent, and the energy counter soared by 0.18 per cent, while the insurance space shed 0.18 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 536.98 points to finish at 249,712.37 points compared with the previous day’s 249,175.39 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N344 billion to N160.077 trillion from N159.733 trillion.
Aluminium Extrusion and DAAR Communications expanded by 10.00 per cent each to sell for N9.90 and N2.09, respectively, RT Briscoe surged by 9.93 per cent to N14.06, Learn Africa increased by 9.79 per cent to N12.90, and Red Star Express advanced by 9.56 per cent to N34.95.
On the flip side, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.92 per cent to N5.72, Livestock Feeds dipped by 9.64 per cent to N8.90, The Initiates crashed by 8.65 per cent to N33.80, Ellah Lakes drowned by 8.64 per cent to N10.05, and Neimeth lost 6.36 per cent to trade at N10.30.
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