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Eight Months After AbokiFX Forex Shut Down, Naira Hits N610/$1

By
Samuel Nwite
-
2
Nigeria Naira US Dollar

Naira has hit its lowest rate in history at N610/$1 in the parallel market, stoking fresh concern that Nigeria may be heading toward another recession as inflation has begun to increase its numbers again.

Since about seven years ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has been pointing accusing fingers at many factors for naira’s free fall. Among the factors that the apex bank has blamed as the naira nosedives are Bureau de Change (BDCs) and the most controversial, AbokiFX – an online exchange aggregator that publishes daily exchange rates and has become popular among Nigerians.

The CBN governor Godwin Emefiele had accused the outlet of manipulating the foreign exchange market, thereby undermining Nigeria’s economy. That was in September last year. AbokiFX was forced to shut down operation as Emefiele unsubstantially made his claims and vowed to go after the aggregator. The naira was exchanging around N570/$1 then.

It has been eight months since then and Nigerians eagerly want to know why the naira has further fallen N40 below its then position against the dollar.

“$1 is truly N610? I thought since Aboki Fx has been banned, $ should be trading at N100 or less,” Wale Adetona tweeted.

The CBN also stopped forex supply to BDCs, accusing them of inflating exchange rates and stirring dollar scarcity. The launch of eNaira weeks after AbokiFX was shut down was touted by the central bank as a panacea to the naira’s ordeal. But these measures taken by the apex bank have fallen short of the solution to naira’s weakness.

”$1 is officially N610 in Nigeria. So was Aboki Fx the problem? Godwin Emefiele connived with President Buhari. Both men destroyed the Naira. CBN Governor’s E-Naira was another Air Nigeria Scam,” Nefertiti, another Nigerian Twitter user wrote.

The resulting consequence of naira’s free fall – inflation, is pushing Nigerians to the edge. As of March, inflation rate has risen to 15.92%, a five-month high that has further shot up the cost of living in Nigeria.

As lack of dollar liquidity, which experts have rightly blamed for naira’s downfall, persists due to economic headwinds emanating from oil market’s crisis and recently, Russia-Ukraine war, the call for Nigeria to diversify its economy from oil hasn’t been louder. The CBN governor Godwin Emefiele admitted last year that Nigeria is spending about 40% of its forex on petroleum import due to lack of functioning refineries in the country.

Though recently, crude oil price has risen above $100, Nigeria’s foreign reserve has yet to increase its volume to retain sustainable forex liquidity that will upset the current status of the naira against the dollar. This is because the Nigerian government is paying fuel subsidies that have gulped up to N7.5 trillion of the 2022 budget.

While the current situation of Nigeria’s FX market has exonerated AbokiFX, Nigerians are worried that Emefiele’s blame game and other inconsistencies will further harm the naira and Nigeria’s economy before 2023. The CBN governor has been politically active, instigating calls for his resignation.

Early this month, Emefiele made a baffling move to run for president, defying the CBN act that prohibits its officers from being political. Though he has withdrawn his interest, including the lawsuit he filed seeking a legal backing to presidential aspiration, the development has added to the concern that the naira in the care of Emefiele, will see more dips.

Experts Advocate The Use Of Technology To Curb Post-Harvest Issues

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0
Commercialize Agriculture Ideas

Agricultural experts in the country have called for the use of the right policy and technology to curb post-harvest issues to boost food production and lower the prices of foodstuffs in Nigeria. The experts made this statement at a seminar on ‘Feed Up Africa’ which was held in Ibadan, Oyo state.

Having observed the wastages on farmlands and those wasted after production, which has greatly contributed to increasing prices of Agricultural produce and food shortage in the country, these experts, therefore, advocated for the use of technology to reduce these losses.

With the use of technology in the Agricultural sector, it will encourage food processing as these wastages on farmlands rather than being thrown away, will be processed into other products. It is therefore pertinent to say that one of the effective ways of ensuring food security in Nigeria, is for effective implementation of technological facilities, which will ensure that there is a drastic reduction of post-harvest losses.

According to statistics, Nigeria loses N3.5 trillion to post-harvest losses annually which is not good for the country’s economy. Some analysts have disclosed that problems such as inadequate storage facilities for harvest exist in the Nigerian agricultural sector because it has failed to evolve.

The problem of post-harvest losses poses serious implications for food security in Nigeria. In order to curb such losses, the government must ensure the establishment of farm produce processing industries and standard equipment which will ensure that there is efficient harvesting, handling, and sorting, application of non-toxic chemicals, improved storage systems, etc.

Also, cost-effective technologies can be invented as they will go a long way to stem the tide of available losses in the agricultural sector. One beautiful aspect of the use of technology is that it can efficiently preserve vegetables, grains, seeds, and other farms’ produce for a long duration, without damage.

For instance, countries in Southern Africa use maize as their staple food, and post-harvest maize losses significantly contribute to the region’s food insecurity. Therefore, to address the issue, some farmers in the region used “Purdue Improved Crop Storage” (PICS) bags to properly store their maize grain. This bag enabled the maize grains to have a longer shelf-life.

It is therefore pertinent for the government to properly introduce technological equipment that will aid farmers to limit post-harvest losses because such technologies can enhance the country’s food security.

Asides from the implementation of technologies, the government should also ensure to build standard roads, because due to inappropriately built roads, the process of transporting these farms’ produce becomes very long as some crops will begin to spoil before it gets to the market.

One negative impact of food security on the nation is that it causes malnutrition, especially in rural communities, and also leads to a huge loss of revenue which affects the country’s economy. Therefore the government must ensure the mobilization of human, technical and financial resources to enhance post-harvest losses management.

Tekedia Mini-MBA Introduces A Course On Open Banking

By
Ndubuisi Ekekwe
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0

Open Banking Nigeria, the key organization which has championed the open banking initiative in Nigeria, will lead a session on Open Banking during the next edition of Tekedia Institute Mini-MBA which begins June 6th. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently published operational guidelines for open banking in the country; you can read the guidelines here.

Nigeria’s Big OPEN: The Age of Open Banking Is Here and New Opportunities Await

Mastercard Partners with OPay to Boost Financial Inclusion in Middle East and Africa

By
Samuel Nwite
-
0

Mastercard has continued to use partnership as a strategy to win more market shares as competition hits up in the payment industry.

The New York-based payment firm and fintech giant OPay have entered a strategic partnership to drive wider financial inclusion and boost economic prosperity by opening up digital commerce to millions of people across the Middle East and Africa.

The collaboration enables OPay consumers and merchants in the region – including Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa, and the UAE – to engage with brands and businesses anywhere across the globe, thanks to a Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to the OPay eWallet.

This partnership is the latest milestone in Mastercard’s emerging market strategy where the technology company is collaborating with growing Fintech’s such as OPay to expand access to digital payments, enable multiple lifestyle services, create new pathways to financial inclusion and support the next generation of super-apps.

“As the leading fintech in the Middle East and Africa, we are delighted to be partnering with Mastercard as we continue on our journey to promote financial inclusion, helping to open up the global economy to more consumers and businesses across the Middle East, and Africa,” Yahui Zhou, CEO of OPay, said.

Consumers are increasingly looking for seamless user experiences on a single platform offering easier interactions to complete various day-to-day needs, including sending and receiving money, ordering food and groceries, organizing transport, lending, investing and listing items they wish to sell.

In the initial phase of this partnership, OPay customers will benefit from the Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to their OPay wallets, to shop at well-known global brands for leisure, travel, accommodation, entertainment, streaming services and more. The service is available regardless of whether or not the customer has a bank account. It also allows small business owners to purchase from suppliers abroad and pay with the secure virtual payment solution.

Mastercard has partnered with different payment outlets across the globe, including cryptocurrency platforms – a strategy Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President for Market Development, Mastercard EEMEA, said will help to create an interconnected global payments ecosystem.

“At Mastercard, our innovation strategy is rooted in partnerships to support inclusion at scale. Our partnership with OPay demonstrates our commitment to supporting payments providers across the world to create an interconnected global payments ecosystem that benefits an array of consumers with unique needs,” he said.

Since its operations started in 2018, OPay’s active users have grown to 15 million in dozens of markets in which it operates. The company processes millions of transactions per day on average. In Nigeria alone, where OPay takes a significant market share, users have saved billions of US dollars in the last four years through credit-linked savings accounts from their mobile wallets and small loans from lenders that use its platform.

Plans are in place to launch OPay services in other markets in the next three to five years, significantly driving the growth of digital inclusion and digital commerce, while at the same time widening OPay customer inclusion into the global economy.

Mastercard has made a worldwide commitment to financial inclusion, pledging to bring 1 billion people and 50 million micro and small businesses – with a focus on 25 million women entrepreneurs – into the digital economy by 2025. With OPay’s market share in the MEA regions, Mastercard has a high chance of attaining its 2025 goal.

Oxford Green Farms group Launches Innovative Platform, “Agrolyfe”, To Improve Agric Value Chain

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
-
10

Oxford Green farms group, a leading business conglomerate in Africa, has recently launched an innovative platform to facilitate and improve effective productivity in the Agricultural sector of the nation’s economy.

Speaking at the official launch of the platform, the CEO of Oxford Green Farms group, Dr. Goodluck Olatunde Precious, disclosed that the platform ‘Agrolyfe’ leverages farming and real estate which will enable farmers and subscribers the opportunity to create consistent income-earning opportunities, as well as generate stable and reliable rental income through farmland acquisition.

The initiative is poised to complement the efforts of the federal government in the area of self-sustainability in food production that targets the entire agricultural value chain. The CEO further revealed that those who are subscribers on the platform can purchase farmlands from as low as N100,000 to N2,000,000 and earn rentals on it every three months.

It is interesting to note that the company has already flagged off with four fam locations in, Imala Town, Oke-Ogun, Ibadan, Oyo state, Itele in Ijebu, Ogun State, and Ijaka in Aiyetoro. The company disclosed that all these locations aforementioned are not all, as there are plans underway to add 20 more locations to the scheme within the next 30-60 days.

In the words of the CEO, during the official launch of the platform, he had this to say, “AgroLyfe is that child delivered when you marry Agriculture with Real Estate. It is a product that leverages farming and real estate to generate stable and reliable rental income for customers through farmland acquisition. Think of it like this: Buy land, rent out to farmers for farming, and earn rental on these farms at short intervals. Smart, right? That is exactly what AgroLyfe is”.

“Our mission is to cover the entire agriculture value chain, from farming to harvesting, processing, storage, transportation, and up to the end-users. In this case, this would also include exporting agro products. We would give farmers we are onboarding access to grants and off-takers for their farming to boost capacity and output. We believe this would add up to a 20% boost to Nigeria’s overall food production capacity” he stated”

This is a highly commendable initiative from Oxford Green farms to aid farmers and the production of food in the country. It is indeed an ecstatic feeling to see that the agricultural sector in the country has been receiving great support, not just from the government alone, but also from private firms.

Farmers in the country are faced with different constraints that have affected food production and the generation of income and revenue. Some constraints they are often faced with, are a lack of access to farmlands and grants for their farming to boost their capacity and output. The outrageous amounts farmlands are being sold at, makes it difficult for farmers to purchase land for planting.

With ‘Agrolyfe’, such a problem will be eradicated as the platform offers farmers the opportunity to buy lands for as low as N100,000 or even rent the lands to farmers at short intervals. Awesome! Not only will the platform offer affordable lands, rentals, and grants to farmers, it also has a mission to cover the entire agricultural value chain from harvesting, processing, storage, transportation, and up to end-users.

What this means is that there will be the elimination of different challenges faced by these farmers which will ensure that their farm produce is properly stored, safely transported, and gets to the end-users with little or no risk involved. Grants will also be given to these farmers to be able to purchase large amounts of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides which will no doubt ensure that they produce a bountiful harvest.

Indeed, if all these initiatives and platforms established by the government and private firms are effectively implemented, coupled with smooth operation, the agricultural sector will no doubt boost Nigeria’s overall food production capacity which can also be a source of great revenue to the country through the exportation of different farm produce.

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