Nigeria to block food imports
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari wants to step up efforts in resolving the currency crisis.
His first target is food imports, one of the main sources of huge foreign exchange outflows.
A statement from the presidency said “the foreign exchange reserve will be kept and used strictly for economic diversification, not to encourage more dependence on food import bills”.
The foreign exchange reserve will be kept and used strictly for economic diversification.
As the continent’s largest oil producer, Nigeria has not sufficiently diversified its sources of income.
As a result, it is bearing the brunt of a sluggish crude oil market, a product that supplies most of the country’s currencies.
Africa’s economic powerhouse allocates huge hard-earned cash to import of foodstuffs like rice and milk.
According to official statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter of 2018, Nigeria spent $503 million on agricultural imports.
It is an increase of 25.84% in the first quarter of this year.
