Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel Limited has backed President Bola Tinubu’s action to address the challenges of foreign exchange by floating the Naira, allowing market forces to determine the exchange rate.
The chairman who made this statement during his visit to the president at the presidential Villa said that the lack of easy access to forex has remained a difficult challenge for investors over the years
“One of the biggest problem for foreign investors in Nigeria for many years has been the lack of easily availability of forex, where foreign investors who has spent billions of dollar here do not mind paying whatever the market rate is as the market must decide but to be prevented from importing critical infrastructure equipment from our partners like IBM and other software agencies, making it extremely difficult for a company like Airtel which must be the case with others as well.
Read also: Mobile Virtual Operators target 27m Nigerians without access to telecom
“One of the key changes that his excellency has made in the first few days of his tenure has been making Naira free float unto the market, making the market decide,” Mittal said.
He disclosed that companies like Airtel and other investors here in Nigeria have found it difficult to navigate the CBN structure over the years.
According to him, the naira has devalued but the markets have given a standing ovation for the recent move, adding that investors who will be coming into the Nigerian market will be full of excitement.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the telecoms company also highlighted the upcoming G20 Summit in India, where he was appointed the Chairman, Africa’s Integration council, and will discuss about Airtel India and Nigeria, while also presenting recommendations to enhance trade between African countries using local currencies.
“This will enable the African continent and the AFCTA to trade between themselves in a more powerful way and perhaps local currencies, ensuring the advantages of trading within the continent are better, making sure the continent flourishes with it’s growing population as fast as they can.”
He applauded the president’s commitment to poverty eradication and Nigeria’s potential to leverage digital infrastructure to provide services for its citizens
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