Analysts expect FG to review forex policy, diversify economy

Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) needs to review and restructure the way manufacturing companies and genuine importers access foreign exchange to drive business activities in the nation’s seaport in 2017, analysts say.

The analysts say the CBN should as a matter of urgency review the policy restricting importers’ of 41 selected items from accessing foreign exchange from the official window. They also say that there was need for government to effectively implement its economic diversification ideologies, so as to take Nigeria away from depending on oil revenue to other sectors.

They further identified the need to drive export trade by investing in agricultural and food processing for value addition and job creation, in place of exporting raw agricultural produce to Europe and other continents.        

Amy Jadesimi, managing director, Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics base (LADOL), who noted that 2016 was a tough year, said that operators are still very optimistic about the future of Nigeria because the discussions happening between the public and private sectors are around economic restructuring.

“There are lots of structural issues that need to be fixed in the way our economy is setup. The most popular one is the need for diversification away from oil and gas. We need to restructure the way manufacturing companies have access to foreign currency and to move away from rent seeking and being agents to become asset developers and owners. It is actually during tough times like this that these kinds of structural changes can take place,” she said.

“We expect change in policy on the 41 selected items banned by the CBN from accessing foreign exchange from the official window and if the Federal Government refuses to review this policy, the nation’s economy may go into depression,” said Tony Anakebe, a maritime analyst.

Nigerian port users, he added, expect the Federal Government to rehabilitate the access roads leading to the major seaports in Lagos, Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports to ease movement of consignments in and out of the ports. He further observed the need to move tanker trailers away from queuing on the port access roads for ease of access into the port.

Anakebe, who noted that the economy in 2017 would be driven by upcoming of industries, said that more importers would be investing on importation of raw materials, which would in turn raise the volume of imports at the port.

“Many companies, now bring in raw materials for production and in 2017, more companies will be hauling production components and machineries to drive local production of goods and service in the coming year. Apart from this, the ban on importation of vehicles through land borders if well implemented, will increase the volume of vehicles imported through Lagos ports, which would in turn lead to increased revenue generated by the Nigeria Customs Services (NCS) into Federal Government coffers,” he explained.

Jonathan Nicole, president of Shippers Association of Lagos State, who observed that 2016 was characterised by CBN restriction on access to foreign exchange, observed that a little relaxation on exchange control by CBN, and allowing only commercial banks to control sales of FX in the fourth quarter of 2016, has enabled the importation of few commodities into the country.   

“We believed that with the kind of presentations made to the Federal Government by various organisations, we are hopeful that 2017 will be better for both import and export business. We also expect the government to inculcate the sanity required in the port system and every other thing will fall in place,” said Nicole.

Emmanuel Nwabunwanne, a Lagos-based importer, who lamented on the role played by scarcity of foreign exchange and devaluation of naira in limiting foreign trade and reducing import volume in 2016, said the future of the nation’s economy lies in the hands of the national economic management team, whose role is to make strategic economic decisions that would drive the economy.

“Export business is looking up and may be a major driver of the economy in 2017 because investors are making serious plans and positioning to take advantage of the Federal Government’s economic diversification, especially in the area of agriculture,” he said.