Business
New Forex Policy, Artificial Solution -Expert
An economist, Dr Anthony Aziegbemi has described the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) latest strategy of strengthening the value of Naira by injecting excess foreign currencies into the market, as an artificial solution.
Aziegbemi said this on Wednesday in Abuja at a round-table discussion on the “Way out of Recession”, organised by Value Fronteira Limited.
The CBN, in the last two weeks, injected over 1.14 billion dollars through the inter-bank market, to meet legitimate demand of foreign currencies for travels, school fees and medicals.
Through this, the CBN hopes to strengthen the value of Naira and simultaneously crash the demand at the black market segment.
“Right now CBN is pumping so much Forex because it has the money. But once the money dries up, we are back to square one.
“Economics is a social science, thus contains laws that govern how economies should be run.
“If you don’t follow these laws and you do it artificially, like banning of the 41 items from getting foreign exchange, the economy won’t work as expected.
“You need to attack the foundation of the economy. You need to get the manufacturing industry up and moving. That is the only way we will have sustainable progress,” he said.
Aziegbemi said that the right way to strengthen the Naira was to invest in critical infrastructure and ensure that the manufacturing and agriculture sectors got the necessary support to grow.
In proffering solution out of recession, Aziegbemi called for the downward review of the current monetary policy rate.
He recalled that with obvious signs of recession and rising inflation, instead of lowering the monetary rate, the CBN instead, raised it from 11 per cent to 12 per cent and later to 14 per cent.
He said that countries that successfully came out of recession had lowered their monetary policy rates during such trying times to encourage spending.
He cited the case of China, Ethiopia, India, Malaysia, Poland, Mexico and Turkey that reduced lending rate, increased spending and used fiscal policy to stimulate demand in the face of collapsing global demand.
“The Monetary Policy Committee needs to cut down the monetary policy rate to at least 8 per cent.
” The cause of inflation is our over dependence on foreign products and not excess liquidity. So raising the lending rate has made less money available in the system and more difficult to drag the economy out of recession.
“What we need to do is to reduce the lending rate rather than tightening people’s hands,” he said
Aziegbemi advised the government to continue to pay special attention to agriculture and agric-businesses, work on enhancing the sources of Forex and ensure better fiscal and monetary policy coordination.
He canvassed for amnesty for treasury looters, to allow voluntary return of looted funds and encourage government to commence immediate implementation of projects and programmes that would stimulate the economy.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has criticised Nigeria’s import ban on 25 categories of goods, claiming that the restrictions limit market access for American exporters.
This is the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs introduction on goods entering the United States, with Nigeria facing a 14 per cent duty.
The USTR highlighted the impact of Nigeria’s import ban on various sectors, particularly agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
The restrictions affect items such as beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and alcoholic beverages, which the United States sees as significant barriers to trade.
The agency argues that these limitations reduce export opportunities for United States businesses and lead to lost revenue.
“Nigeria’s import ban on 25 different product categories impacts United States exporters, particularly in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
“Restrictions on items like beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and spirits limit United States market access and reduce export opportunities.
“These policies create significant trade barriers that lead to lost revenue for United States businesses looking to expand in the Nigerian market”, the agency said .
In 2016, Nigeria implemented the ban on these 25 items as part of efforts to control imports and stimulate local production.
Some of the banned items include poultry, pork, refined vegetable oil, sugar, cocoa products, spaghetti, beer, and certain medicines.
On March 26, 2025, the Federal Government also announced plans to halt solar panel imports to encourage local manufacturing as part of its push for clean energy.
A leading agribusiness strategist and digital agriculture expert, Ayo Oluwa Okediji, has sought cooperative-driven investments in sustaining growth of poultry industry in Nigeria.
He said the poultry industry was at a defining moment and requires urgent structural reforms to secure its future and ensure long-term sustainability.
Speaking on the theme, “Strengthening Poultry Farming Through Cooperative Synergy and Strategic Investments”, at the recently concluded Oyo Mega Poultry Workshop 2025 in Ibadan, Okediji called on poultry farmers, cooperative leaders, financial institutions and policy makers to rethink the existing structure of the poultry sector.
He stressed the need to transition from fragmented, individually-driven operations to well-structured, cooperative-led enterprises capable of attracting sustainable financing and securing long-term viability.
He said, “Our poultry sector cannot thrive on individual effort alone. We need to organise ourselves into cooperative clusters, build strong governance systems and position ourselves to attract the level of investment needed to sustain this industry beyond this generation.”
Drawing on lessons from successful global cooperative models such as Rabobank in the Netherlands and Landus Cooperative in the United States, Okediji introduced the FarmClusters Poultry Model, a locally adapted solution developed by Agribusiness Dynamics Technology Limited (AgDyna), a subsidiary of AgroInfoTech Africa.
According to him, the model is currently being piloted in Oyo State in partnership with PANOY Agribusiness Limited and local poultry cooperatives.
The Rivers State Representative of the Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Mines, Industries and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Erasmus Chukwundah, has urged palm oil farmers to consider hybrid seedlings for planting, if they must break even in palm oil business.
Chukwundah said this recently at the Free Oil Palm Business Climate Smart Best Management Practice/Assistance Training organized by Partnership Initiative In Niger Delta (PIND) for Palm Oil Farmers in Elele, Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The Rivers representative said until palm oil farmers begin to consider such hybrid oil palm seedlings, they may not meet up with the daily increasing demand of palm oil in the market.
According to him, the seedlings produce up to 30 bunches at once that ripen same time.
He said PIND decided to partner with Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria (OPGAN) to ensure that the message was received by the targeted audience.
According to him, palm oil remained a popular choice of industry operators as it could be converted to many other products such as vegetable cooking oil.
He also noted that products such as motor tyers, marine ropes and others are now gotten from the palm tree.
Chukwundah, who is the immediate past Director-General of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industries, and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), further warned against use of unrecommended fertilisers in growing oil palms.
He noted that such practices could limit its export value or chances as the foreign marketers have a way of detecting such .
He reiterated the need for organic fertilizers, including poultry droppings, to enable them have a natural palm oil.
“People must reduce physical contact with palm oil production. That is why we are campaigning for hydrolic oil mills. The foreign markets are no longer interested in crude method of palm oil production”, he said.
Meanwhile, one of the farmers, Sonny Didia, who appreciated Chukwundah’s commitment towards the concern of farmers, appealed for an urgent need for loan opportunity with low interest rate in order to enable them beat the target.
King Onunwor