A former president of the
Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Dr Samuel Nzekwe, has advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to properly manage the new flexible foreign exchange regime,
Nzekwe gave the advice in an interview with newsmen  in Lagos.
According to him, if not properly managed, it will defeat the purpose of the idea of the new forex regime and the nation “would be back to square one’’.
He said that there was need for the apex bank to make sourcing of forex less cumbersome.
“The new forex regime is welcomed. The CBN should ensure that there is no undercutting. There were lots of speculations which affected the financial sector,’’ the accountant said.
According to the former ANAN boss, one can be sure of quick access to forex , since it is now regulated by market forces, which are the forces of demand and supply.
“The question now is how do we shore up the value of the naira?
“The only way this can be done is to have enough foreign exchange, as long as there is no enough forex, naira will continue to plummet,’’ Nzekwe said.
He suggested that government should create an enabling environment so that effective productive functions could start, adding that this could only be done with steady power supply.
“One of the ways to reflate the economy is to make the industries work.
“If you change forex at a high rate and use generator for production, what will be the outcome?
“Government has to put in place the necessary infrastructure to attract local and foreign investors.
“Government should also look at agriculture and adopt backward integration and ensure Nigerians stop exporting raw produce.
“The raw produce should be processed to earn more foreign exchange and create employment , so that more forex would boost imports,’’ Our source quotes Nzekwe as saying.
He said that industries were not working because most of the raw materials were imported.
According to him, the raw materials are imported at very high exchange rate.
“Most raw materials used by the nation’s local industries are imported and this is why I talked about backward integration.
“The government should take suggestions that will help the nation to come out with good policies on how to solve the problems of the economy,’’ the accountant said.
Nzekwe said that the nation’s economy thrived mostly on the activities of the informal sector and Nigerians in Diaspora, whose activities were not seen by government.
The former ANAN boss said, “The informal sector brings spare parts, clothes, cars and other necessities of life.’’
He said that “this is why the government has to look at the activities of the informal sector and see how to assist the sector.’’
Nzekwe said that the naira had been devalued long time ago because the informal sector thrived with the black market.
According to him, at the time the parallel market was selling dollar at N350, it was the informal sector that was patronising the market.