Economy
Impact of Nigeria’s FX Reforms on Businesses Thrills BUA Group Owner
By Adedapo Adesanya
The chairman and founder of BUA Group, Mr Abdul Samad Rabiu, has lauded the impact of Nigeria’s foreign exchange reforms on businesses.
The businessman opined that Nigeria’s reforms have put the country on the global economic map, urging Britain and other Western allies to deepen partnerships and increase investments in Nigeria.
In a recent opinion piece published in the Telegraph of London, the philanthropist asserted that President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms were positioning the country prominently on the global economic map.
He said in the UK newspaper that President Tinubu’s decisive leadership in reforms had cut Nigeria’s official consumption of petrol by 45 per cent.
According to him, as someone who has built multinational businesses across Africa, I know the vast opportunity the continent offers, and Nigeria in particular which alone accounts for a fifth of sub-Saharan Africa’s 1.2 billion people.
“Lowering barriers to trade is crucial, and for that Britain’s ETIP looks prescient.
“However, investment and business potential will remain discounted as long as African nations cling to state intervention from subsidies and price controls to exchange rate distortions all of which have consistently bred dysfunction and economic instability.
“Fortunately, Nigeria has now decisively turned a corner, embracing market economics under a liberalising government.”
He said that the shift in policies by the Tinubu administration had projected Nigeria towards a better future.
“In making that shift, Nigeria is taking the lead for a continent to follow. So many Nigerian administrations I have known have been hostage to economic events, doubling down time and again on state intervention rather than having the conviction to reform.
“This administration is proving different. After two years of difficult reforms, Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu is now poised to fulfil the promise of its vast natural resources, rapidly growing population of over 200 million people, and strategic coastal location along the Gulf of Guinea,” he said.
The BUA founder observed the drastic fall in official consumption of petrol as one of the gains of the reforms saying “First, the Tinubu administration removed a crippling fuel subsidy; the most significant policy reform in years.
“When President Tinubu ditched the fuel subsidy on his first day in office, criticism quickly followed. However, statistics must be understood in light of the wide-ranging distortions the subsidy created.”
“But that is not because Nigerians’ petrol use reduced by this amount. In reality the country was subsidising the region, with cross border fuel smugglers profiting from arbitrage.
“The illegal trade was so blatant that on a visit to neighbouring Niger a few years ago, then President Mohamed Bazoum even joked about it, thanking Nigeria for the cheap fuel. Though the move was politically unpopular, the subsidy had become unsustainable.
“Now, spending is being redirected toward development and infrastructure, laying the foundations for long-term growth,” he said.
Mr Rabiu also said that the country had moved from a fixed to a market-determined exchange rate.
According to him, previously, only select groups could access the official rate especially those with political connections; the rest had to rely on a more expensive parallel informal market determined by supply and demand.
“But selling Dollars at an artificially low rate only entrenched scarcity, a problem compounded by an opaque exchange mechanism that deterred foreign investment.
“Every two weeks, we used to make the 12-hour drive to Abuja to seek Dollar allocations for imports, camping out at the Central Bank for three or four days. Now, I no longer need to go. I’ve met the new Governor only once in two years because I haven’t had to.
“Monetary orthodoxy has finally arrived, bringing with it the liquidity that both domestic and foreign businesses depend on to smooth trade and de-risk investment.”
He further said that the shackles of politics were being prised from business, bringing greater certainty, fairness and stability to the landscape.
“Indeed, many of the benefits of reform are still to be felt by the wider public. But economic fundamentals must be fixed before that becomes possible.
“Now that Nigeria has made it through the toughest phase, its direction should be clear to investors.
“For Britain, the Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership with Nigeria is a strategic bet on reform, resilience and long-term reward.
“Nigeria is now delivering its part of the bargain. As my country steadies itself, the UK, its Western allies and their companies should deepen this partnership,” he added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented a budget proposal of N58.47 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year titled Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity to a joint session of the National Assembly, with capital recurrent (non‑debt) expenditure standing at 15.25 trillion, and the capital expenditure at N26.08 trillion, while the crude oil benchmark was pegged at $64.85 per barrel.
Business Post reports that the Brent crude grade currently trades around $60 per barrel. It is also expected to trade at that level or lower next year over worries about oil glut.
At the budget presentation today, Mr Tinubu said the expected total revenue for the year is N34.33 trillion, and the proposal is anchored on a crude oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day, and an exchange rate of N1,400 to the US Dollar.
In terms of sectoral allocation, defence and security took the lion’s share with N5.41 trillion, followed by infrastructure at N3.56 trillion, education received N3.52 trillion, while health received N2.48 trillion.
Addressing the lawmakers, the President described the budget proposal as not “just accounting lines”.
“They are a statement of national priorities,” the president told the gathering. “We remain firmly committed to fiscal sustainability, debt transparency, and value‑for‑money spending.”
The presentation came at a time of heightened insecurity in parts of the country, with mass abductions and other crimes making headlines.
Outlining his government’s plan to address the challenge, President Tinubu reminded the gathering that security “remains the foundation of development”.
He said some of the measures in place to tame insecurity include the modernisation of the Armed Forces, intelligence‑driven policing and joint operations, border security, and technology‑enabled surveillance and community‑based peacebuilding and conflict prevention.
“We will invest in security with clear accountability for outcomes—because security spending must deliver security results,” the president said.
“To secure our country, our priority will remain on increasing the fighting capability of our armed forces and other security agencies by boosting personnel and procuring cutting-edge platforms and other hardware,” he added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deadline for the recapitalisation of the Nigerian pension industry has been extended by six months to June 2027 from December 2026.
This extension was approved by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the agency, which regulates the sector in the country.
Addressing newsmen on Thursday in Lagos, the Director-General of PenCom, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, explained that the shift in deadline was to give operators more time to boost the capital base, dismissing speculations that the exercise had been suspended.
“The recapitalisation has not been suspended. We have communicated the requirements to the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), and we expect every operator to be compliant by June 2027. Anyone who is not compliant by then will lose their licence,” Ms Oloworaran told journalists.
She added that, “From a regulatory standpoint, our major challenge is ensuring compliance. We are working with ICPC, labour and the TUC to ensure employers remit pension contributions for their employees.”
The DG noted that engagements with industry operators indicated broad acceptance of the policy, with many PFAs already taking steps to raise additional capital or explore mergers and acquisitions.
“You may see some mergers and acquisitions in the industry, but what is clear is that the recapitalisation exercise is on track and the industry agrees with us,” she stated.
PenCom wants the PFAs to increase their capital base and has created three categories, with the first consists operators with Assets Under Management of N500 billion and above. They are expected to have a minimum capital of N20 billion and one per cent of AUM above N500 billion.
The second category has PFAs with AUM below N500 billion, which must have at least N20 billion as capital base.
The last segment comprises special-purpose PFAs such as NPF Pensions Limited, whose minimum capital was pegged at N30 billion, and the Nigerian University Pension Management Company Limited, whose minimum capital was fixed at N20 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Thursday, December 18.
According to data, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc led the losers’ group after it slipped by N2.87 to N36.78 per share from N39.65 per share, Golden Capital Plc depreciated by 77 Kobo to end at N6.98 per unit versus the previous day’s N7.77 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped 19 Kobo to sell at N60.00 per share versus Wednesday’s closing price of N60.19 per share.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation lost N16.81 billion to finish at N2.147 billion compared with the preceding session’s N2.164 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 24.76 points to 3,589.88 points from 3,614.64 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold increased by 49.3 per cent to 30.5 million units from 20.4 million units, the value of securities surged by 211.8 per cent to N225.1 million from N72.2 million, and the number of deals jumped by 33.3 per cent to 28 deals from 21 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc remained the most traded stock by value with a year-to-date sale of 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.
Similarly, InfraCredit Plc ended as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units exchanged for N524.9 million.
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