Nigerian Central Bank Governor and Investment Minister Talk on FX Supply

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — Nigerian central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele and Trade and Investment Minister Okechukwu Enelamah are discussing ways to ensure supplies of foreign exchange to manufacturers in the Africa’s largest economy as the slump in oil prices constraint dollar inflows.

“My minister is engaging with the central bank governor and other key stakeholders to ensure that the interests of manufacturers are taken care of” in the provision of foreign exchange, Omotara Awobokun, director of trade at the ministry of industry, trade and investment, said in an interview Tuesday. “I am sure a lot of suggestions and initiatives are on the table,” she said in the commercial capital, Lagos. She declined to specify what options are being considered before the government completes its proposals.

Furthermore, Awobokun state that companies have written to the ministry, expressing the difficulty they face obtaining dollars. She highlighted that “Manufacturing is the alternative to the dwindling oil sector” and to be able to support efforts to diversify the economy, producers need foreign exchange to import equipment.