Again, Buhari rejects calls for Naira devaluation
•Says no to devaluation of naira
African leaders and bankers turned out at an
economic summit in Egypt yesterday, vowing to
push for trade and investments on the
continent despite growing security concerns in
the region.
More than 1,200 delegates including President
Muhammadu Buhari aim to sign business
agreements during the two day summit at the
Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, to attract
private sector investments in Africa.
Buhari said at the forum that growing security
concerns in Africa were absorbing huge
resources.
“The new problem affecting investments is
international terrorism… lot of resources that
could be used for development are being
diverted to address security issues,” Buhari said.
Organisers hope the “Africa 2016” conference
can build on a 26-nation free trade pact signed
last year to create a common market on half
the continent.
Analysts say that despite the continent’s
economic growth rate of more than four
percent, Africa still accounts for about only two
percent of global trade.
The forum is aimed at “pushing forward trade
and investment in our continent to strengthen
Africa’s place in the world economy,” Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in his opening
remarks at the conference.
“It not only aims to present investment
opportunities that Africa offers to the
international business community… but aims to
pave the way for active decisions,
communication and cooperation.”
Organisers are also seeking to turn the spotlight
on Egypt as its economy remains sluggish after
years of political turmoil following the ouster of
longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in early 2011.
Heavily dependent on tourism, Egypt’s economy
was dealt a body blow when a Russian airliner
broke up mid-air on October 31, minutes after
taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh.
All 224 people on board, mostly Russian
tourists, were killed when the plane blew up
over the Sinai Peninsula. The jihadist Islamic
State group said it brought down the jet with a
bomb on board.
Egypt says it still has no evidence that a bomb
downed the plane, although Moscow has
acknowledged that a “terrorist attack” caused
the disaster.
“Africa 2016 forum is expected to position Egypt
as a gateway for foreign investments into
African markets,” Omar Ben Yedder, member of
the organising committee, told AFP.
Those attending the summit organised by Egypt
and the African Union include the presidents of
Sudan, Nigeria, Togo, and Gabon, and dozens of
ministers and senior officials from Africa
involved in trade and investment.
President Buhari spoke of his administration’s
determination to ensure national food security
before export of food products abroad.
He said that that government decided to lay
emphasis on agriculture and solid mineral
development because Nigeria, being a mono-
economy dependent on oil, and with a teeming
unemployed youth population must now find a
way out of the current slump in the global oil
market.
“The land is there and we need machinery
inputs, fertilizer and insecticides,” he said.
On calls for the devaluation of the naira,
President Buhari said that Nigeria cannot
compete with developed countries which
produce to compete among themselves and can
afford to devalue their local currencies.
“Developed countries are competing among
themselves and when they devalue they
compete better and manufacture and export
more. But we are not competing and exporting
but importing everything including toothpicks.
So, why should we devalue our currency?,” the
President queried.
He added: “We want to be more productive and
self-sufficient in food and other basic things
such as clothing. For our government, we like to
encourage local production and efficiency.”
Those who have developed taste for foreign
luxury goods, he said, should continue to pay
for them rather than pressuring government to
devalue the naira.
Optimistic that Nigeria would get out of its
current economic downturn, he noted that
another major problem militating against
economic revival is the huge resources
deployed towards fighting insurgency and
international terrorism.
He, however, commended the support being
received from the international community in
the administration’s fight against terrorism and
cooperation in tracing looted funds stashed
away in foreign countries.
Responding to a question on his performance
since he assumed office, the President said that
his administration has been quite focused on
three fundamental issues of securing the
country, reviving the economy and stamping
out corruption.
He said that those accused of stealing public
funds are cooperating by voluntarily providing
useful information while investigations and
prosecutions are ongoing.
African leaders and bankers turned out at an
economic summit in Egypt yesterday, vowing to
push for trade and investments on the
continent despite growing security concerns in
the region.
More than 1,200 delegates including President
Muhammadu Buhari aim to sign business
agreements during the two day summit at the
Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, to attract
private sector investments in Africa.
Buhari said at the forum that growing security
concerns in Africa were absorbing huge
resources.
“The new problem affecting investments is
international terrorism… lot of resources that
could be used for development are being
diverted to address security issues,” Buhari said.
Organisers hope the “Africa 2016” conference
can build on a 26-nation free trade pact signed
last year to create a common market on half
the continent.
Analysts say that despite the continent’s
economic growth rate of more than four
percent, Africa still accounts for about only two
percent of global trade.
The forum is aimed at “pushing forward trade
and investment in our continent to strengthen
Africa’s place in the world economy,” Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in his opening
remarks at the conference.
“It not only aims to present investment
opportunities that Africa offers to the
international business community… but aims to
pave the way for active decisions,
communication and cooperation.”
Organisers are also seeking to turn the spotlight
on Egypt as its economy remains sluggish after
years of political turmoil following the ouster of
longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in early 2011.
Heavily dependent on tourism, Egypt’s economy
was dealt a body blow when a Russian airliner
broke up mid-air on October 31, minutes after
taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh.
All 224 people on board, mostly Russian
tourists, were killed when the plane blew up
over the Sinai Peninsula. The jihadist Islamic
State group said it brought down the jet with a
bomb on board.
Egypt says it still has no evidence that a bomb
downed the plane, although Moscow has
acknowledged that a “terrorist attack” caused
the disaster.
“Africa 2016 forum is expected to position Egypt
as a gateway for foreign investments into
African markets,” Omar Ben Yedder, member of
the organising committee, told AFP.
Those attending the summit organised by Egypt
and the African Union include the presidents of
Sudan, Nigeria, Togo, and Gabon, and dozens of
ministers and senior officials from Africa
involved in trade and investment.
President Buhari spoke of his administration’s
determination to ensure national food security
before export of food products abroad.
He said that that government decided to lay
emphasis on agriculture and solid mineral
development because Nigeria, being a mono-
economy dependent on oil, and with a teeming
unemployed youth population must now find a
way out of the current slump in the global oil
market.
“The land is there and we need machinery
inputs, fertilizer and insecticides,” he said.
On calls for the devaluation of the naira,
President Buhari said that Nigeria cannot
compete with developed countries which
produce to compete among themselves and can
afford to devalue their local currencies.
“Developed countries are competing among
themselves and when they devalue they
compete better and manufacture and export
more. But we are not competing and exporting
but importing everything including toothpicks.
So, why should we devalue our currency?,” the
President queried.
He added: “We want to be more productive and
self-sufficient in food and other basic things
such as clothing. For our government, we like to
encourage local production and efficiency.”
Those who have developed taste for foreign
luxury goods, he said, should continue to pay
for them rather than pressuring government to
devalue the naira.
Optimistic that Nigeria would get out of its
current economic downturn, he noted that
another major problem militating against
economic revival is the huge resources
deployed towards fighting insurgency and
international terrorism.
He, however, commended the support being
received from the international community in
the administration’s fight against terrorism and
cooperation in tracing looted funds stashed
away in foreign countries.
Responding to a question on his performance
since he assumed office, the President said that
his administration has been quite focused on
three fundamental issues of securing the
country, reviving the economy and stamping
out corruption.
He said that those accused of stealing public
funds are cooperating by voluntarily providing
useful information while investigations and
prosecutions are ongoing.
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