Business
Agro Exporters Demand Shore-up For Naira
The President, Asso
ciation of Business Owners of Nigeria (ASBON), Dr. Femi Egbesola, has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to take urgent steps to stem the current depreciation in the value of Nigeria’s currency, the naira.
Dr. Egbesola, who stated this while speaking to newsmen in Lagos recently said the consistent gain of the US Dollar against the naira is creating a challenging environment for agro-exporters.
According to him, the challenge posed by this trend hinges on the increased cost of operation of international shipping companies whose services are dominated in foreign currency.
“Many exporters are facing challenges of logistics, when it comes to international shipments of agro commodities.
“They need to pay the shipping charges in US dollars hence, additional amount has to be paid for the same shipments, making export business less profitable for the companies,” he said.
On the export front, Dr. Egbesola said Nigerians were competing with exporters from other countries where their currency make the price of their goods competitive as against Nigerian exporters who are faced with high freight costs denominated in foreign currencies which end up pummeling their profit margins.
With the government encouraging more Nigerians to go into exports, Egbesola cautioned that the naira has to be boosted as its continued depreciation could lead to an overall decline in trade volumes from Nigeria.
On the whole, he urged the government to provide more incentives to boost agricultural productivity and promote secure livelihood for a large number of farm families stating that “farm productivity and profitability will be greatly helped if there is improved support to reinvigorate farming tradition.