President of Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Adetokunbo Kayode, has expressed optimism on foreseeable growth in trade volume of trade deals and transactions between Nigeria and the People’s Republic of China, following the Naira-Yuan currency swap.
According to Kayode, Nigeria’s trade volume with China which stands as at $5.8billion from January-May, 2018, indicates an increase of 7.3 per cent over the previous year has been positively impacted upon by the deal.
He stressed that with that, it means the deal has received a boost and wide acceptance by the business communities in the respective nations.
He lauded the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele in embarking on financial policies that have improved and stabilised the economy of the nation, saying the swap deal is one of such efforts.
Kayode in a statement issued on Thursday pointed out that the initiative have deepened Nigeria’s economic opportunities with China and eased payment issues that were hitherto associated with international trade.
“I believe that this swap deal will enable Nigeria and China to easily trade among themselves in local liquidity without the trouble of having to switch through an intermediary currency. This, no doubt, eased the mode of transaction of businesses across the two countries. It is therefore a welcome development.
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“For us in the Organized Private Sector (OPS), the essence is not far-fetched because it has simply made China willing trading hub by Nigeria, the West African sub-region and indeed the whole of Africa. This will make the Renmimbi a free flow currency in the banks in Nigeria and is consequently included in our external reserve.
“Let me emphasize that this currency swap means that the Chinese Yuan has the capacity and capability to stand shoulder-shoulder with other internationally recognized vibrant currencies such as dollar, Euro and pounds.
“It therefore behooves on us in the OPS to see this opening as a low hanging fruit that can easily help improve our business concerns. Now our banks can open letters of credit in Yuan instead of only the Dollar, Euro or Pounds”, he stated.
Kayode also said while the deal has enhanced trade between the two countries, from a financial risk perspective, it should be restricted mainly for equipment, machines and raw materials procurement.
In order to dissect the matter from the OPS perspective, the President informed that, his chamber is partnering the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sensitize the OPS, traders and other business persons on the opportunities inherent in the deal.
He said the event will take place on 8thAugust 2018 at the chamber secretariat.
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