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Nigeria’s Naira strengthens, exchanges for N1,400/$ as apex bank clears FX backlog

Published

1 month ago

March 21, 2024

The Naira, the currency of Nigeria, strengthened against the US dollar on Wednesday in both the official and black markets. On the black market, the local currency saw a notable increase in value relative to the US dollar.

This occurred concurrently with the announcement of the Central Bank of Nigeria that all legitimate foreign exchange backlogs had been cleared, meeting a significant commitment made by Mr Olayemi Cardoso, the apex bank governor, to handle an inherited backlog of $7 billion in claims.

Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, the Acting CBN Director of Corporate Communications, revealed this information in Abuja on Wednesday. Reports from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the naira ended trading on Wednesday at 1,410/dollar at the parallel market and N1,492 at the official Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market.

The naira’s gain in the official market is equivalent to an appreciation of N68, or 4.5%, over the N1,560/$1 reported at NAFEM on Tuesday. in the parallel market, the gain is equivalent to N190, or 13.5%.

On the same day, the CBN announced that it had successfully cleared all valid foreign exchange backlogs, effectively eliminating a legacy burden. This accomplishment fulfils a commitment made by Mr Cardoso, who vowed to address an inherited backlog of $7bn in claims.

The lack of foreign currency in the nation has long been a concern for the CBN. It was declared last month that Bureaus de Change (BDCs) may not be owned directly or indirectly by governments, commercial banks, merchant banks, other financial institutions (OFIs), or public authorities.

After the CBN made numerous moves, the amount increased by 185.75%, or $7.43 billion, between January and March 15, 2024, according to an analysis of reports and data of daily forex transactions recorded on the website of FMDQ Securities, a platform that publishes official foreign exchange trading in the nation.

External reserves increased by $993 million to $34.11 billion as of March 7, 2024, the highest amount in eight months, according to the CBN.

Related Topics:CBN Featured FX FX backlog Nigeria

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VenturesNow

World Bank grants Malawi $57.6 million for food crisis

Published

15 hours ago

April 27, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

As a response to its food crisis, the World Bank said on Friday that it would give Malawi $57.6 million in “quick release” grants.

“This support comes in the context of the severe food crisis the country is suffering due to El Niño conditions in the wider southern Africa region,” the World Bank said in a statement.

“A series of intense disaster events over the last few years has left almost no time for the country to recover and has resulted in a severe erosion of food security at the national level.”

Malawi is one of the least developed countries in the world. It is ranked 170 out of 187 countries in the 2010 Human Development Index. Almost 16 million people live there, and 90% of them make less than $2 a day. That’s 53% of the total population.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that 46,000 children in Malawi are seriously malnourished. In 2023, UNICEF said that more than 500,000 Malawian children were at risk of not getting enough food.

Now, Malawi has a lot of programs in place to deal with things like poverty, and climate change, and to make the business and agriculture more diverse.

VenturesNow

Nigerian oil regulator implements regional fuel standards

Published

2 days ago

April 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s oil authority has clarified that the recent changes to diesel fuel sulphur content standards are part of a regional effort to make things more uniform and are not meant to loosen rules for local refineries.

A report from S&P Global last week said that the West African fuel market had changed a lot after Nigeria raised the maximum diesel sulphur content from 200 parts per million (ppm) to around 650 ppm. This caused worries that the country might be lowering its standards to allow diesel made in Nigeria that is higher than the 200 ppm limit.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), on the other hand, said it was only following a 2020 decision by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that all of the regions had to slowly switch to better fuels.

Fuels that have a lot of sulfur can hurt engines and make the air dirty. As of right now, the ECOWAS rule lets locally-made fuel have more sulfur until January 2025. After that, a standard of less than 5 parts per million will be used for all oil, whether it is refined in West Africa or brought in from another country.

Farouk Ahmed, the head of the NMDPRA, told Reuters that the new limits are in line with ECOWAS’s choice to require stricter fuel specifications. The new rules will go into effect in January 2021 for non-ECOWAS imports and January 2025 for ECOWAS refineries.

“We are merely implementing the ECOWAS decision adopted in 2020,” Ahmed said.

“So a local refinery with a 650 ppm sulphur in its product is permissible and safe under the ECOWAS rule until January next year where a uniform standard would apply to both the locally refined and imported products outside West Africa”, Ahmed said.

Ahmed said that importers were told that the amount of sulphur allowed was going down, from 300 parts per million in February to 200 parts per million this month. This was done long before the huge Dangote refinery started providing diesel.

Diesel with a sulphur level of between 1,500 ppm and 3,000 ppm could be brought in by importers before.

The switch to cleaner fuels is in line with efforts to protect the environment around the world and makes sure that all area refiners have the same chances.

Nigeria recently had its worst blackout in decades because of a problem with its energy supply. The high cost of alternative energy sources has been a huge problem for both businesses and individuals, with the price of diesel being the most affordable choice for businesses.