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Nigeria’s Financial Woes Threat to ECOWAS Countries – Report

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Economic of West Africa States
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A new report by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa has disclosed that Nigeria’s financial crisis could spell doom for other West African countries.

The report also said Nigeria and 10 other Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries are currently in debt distress based on debt sustainability analysis.

The 10 other countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.

The report, titled ‘Debt Management, restricting and Sustainability in ECOWAS’, was recently launched at the Debt Management Office in Abuja.

According to the report, a financial crisis in Nigeria can threaten other countries in the ECOWAS region.

The report read in part, “According to the debt sustainability analysis, 11 ECOWAS countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo – are currently in debt distress. However, the remaining four countries – Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali and Sierra Leone – are at low risk of debt distress.

“We also find that a financial catastrophe occasioned by a debt crisis in one country may spread throughout the region. The financial woes in Nigeria, in particular, portends a serious threat to other nations in the region.”

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It was further disclosed in the report that public debt accumulation in the region is unsustainable, and the need to address and avert the looming debt crisis is emphasised. “As it stands out that public debt accumulation in ECOWAS has become unsustainable, countries need to act early to avert the impending debt distress. This is important for ECOWAS countries to avoid a lost decade of getting to a debt crisis where debt settlement will be the government’s only agenda for years to come,” it added.

The report further highlighted the high debt service to revenue ratio in the region, particularly in Nigeria. The report read, “Beyond the debt figures, there are numerous indicators of debt sustainability position (Debt to GDP, External Debt to GDP, Debt Service to Revenue and a host of other ratios) in which the IMF has provided benchmarks.

However, many countries have based their debt sustainability decisions on debt indicators that give room for more borrowing. However, the debt service to revenue ratio has been a major challenge for debt management in ECOWAS – close to 100 per cent for some countries.

This is more precarious for Nigeria that recorded 97 per cent debt service to revenue in the first five months of 2021.”The report warned that the possibility of a debt crisis in Nigeria would adversely affect public and private investments, among others, further affecting the entire region.

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It added, “The situation where debt service to revenue is close or over 100 per cent in some ECOWAS countries, as is in Nigeria, portends a debt cycle of borrowing to service debt and risk a potential debt crisis. The possibility of a debt crisis in some countries in the region, particularly in Nigeria, will have adverse impacts on public and private investment, foreign investment inflows, aggregate demand and the stability of the macroeconomy at large.

Following the growing economic integration among ECOWAS countries and the relevance of Nigeria in the economic structure of the region, the fallout from a debt crisis in Nigeria could have a destabilizing impact on other countries in ECOWAS”.

Nigeria’s total public debt stock increased to N39.56tn in 2021 from N32.92tn in 2020, according to the DMO. While the country borrowed about N6.64tn in 2021, it spent about N2.93tn on debt servicing payments in the same year.

Business News

Naira Remains Constant, Exchanges N464.67 to Dollar

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Naira remained constant yesterday, exchanging at N464.67 to the dollar at the Investors and Exporters’ window.

The local currency did not change from its value on Monday, while the open indicative rate closed at N464.96 to the dollar yesterday.

An exchange rate of N467 to the dollar was the highest rate recorded within the day’s trading before it settled at N464.

67.

The naira sold for as low as N460 to the dollar within the day’s trading.

A total of 186.02 million dollars was traded at the official Investors and Exporters’ window yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday in Kano carried out sensitisation campaign on the e-Naira at the Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology (ADUST) Wudil.

The Kano Branch Controller of the bank, Umar Ibrahim-Biu, called on the university community to adopt the new e-wallet system in its payment of tuitions, salaries and other financial transactions.

He explained the need for the university community to migrate to the cashless system was  for financial security and efficiency by adopting to  the e-Naira initiative.

The controller said that e-Naira was a trail blazer now as it had  come to stay and the bank  was  trying to make sure that everybody was brought on board.

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“We’ve been to Universities of Nsuka and Jos and now we are here to also sell the idea of e-Naira wallet to both the students and staff of the institution,” he said

“Our target is where the students can use the facility to pay their tuition fees and other payments through the e-Naira wallet,” he added.

“This will help the students a lot, it’s the safest way of handling your funds. Nobody will steal it, it will eradicate corruption. One does not need to carry huge amount of cash,” he said.

“The VC has accepted it. With e-Naira they can get up to five per cent revert on every payment they make.

“Their money doesn’t go like that they save something out of it. There are a lot of other incentives they can enjoy,” he added.

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Musa Yakasai, gave the assurance that the institution would key into the e-Naira initiative.

Yakasai appreciated the initiative and lauded the Bank for coming to launch the e-Naira initiative in the institution.

He said the students were already e-Naira compliant.

“They are doing a lot of things, some of the academic activities are via e-platforms. So its very easy for students to adopt this e-era.

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The students asked some questions regarding the safety of their deposits in the initiative.

“We now understand the e-Naira concept and we are now convinced and we will call on our students and other stakeholders to key into this initiative.”

“It makes it easier for everyone to operate without having to move with a lot of cash,” Yakasai stated. (NAN)

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Business News

Nigeria, OPEC Members Agree to Cut Oil Production Volumes

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Nigeria and other members of the Oganisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as well as the Non-OPEC members have agreed to cut production volumes to ensure global oil market stability.

The agreement was reached at the 35th Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meeting of OPEC held in Vienna, Austria on June 4.

Nigerian delegation was led by Amb.

Gabriel Aduda, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, who was also confirmed OPEC Governor for Nigeria at the meeting in Vienna.

OPEC and its allies have agreed to cut global oil production by 1.

393 million barrels per day, reducing Nigeria’s oil production quota by 20.7 per cent.

Aduda said Nigeria, Congo and Angola agreed that the highest production volumes of the last Six months (November 2022 – April 2023) be used as the basis for the determination of their 2024 production quota.

“This is subject to a review in November at the second annual meeting of the JMMC.

“However, the current OPEC quota would be maintained till the end of 2023.

“This implies that Nigeria can ramp up its production up to its current quota of 1742 Thousand Barrels Per Day (KB/D) and subsequently be capped at 10 per cent less as its quota for 2024 subject to verification by independent secondary sources,” he said.

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Aduda expressed confidence that the security intervention under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, would enable the restoration of Nigeria’s production to the 1580KB/D crude oil only.

This, he said would be complimented by condensate of about 400KB/D ultimately upping Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate production to about Two Million Barrels per day in 2024. (NAN)

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Agriculture

Fintiri Pledges Support for Farmers with Modern Inputs, Techniques in Adamawa

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Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa has expressed his administration’s determination to support farmers with modern agricultural inputs and techniques to boost farming activities in the state.

Fintiri said this on Tuesday in Yola at the Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity, 2023 Agricultural Inputs Fair, organised by Feed The Future, a United States Government’s Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative.

The programme was being implemented by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and partners.

It is also part of USAID’s contributions to the economic recovery and support to the vulnerable population disenfranchised in the North-East by insurgency and who were being re-engaged into farming activities.

Fintiri, who was represented by his Deputy, Prof. Kaletapwa Farauta, appreciated the conveners of the programme and their partners.

He also expressed his administration’s readiness to partner with any government and non-governmental organisation that was ready to contribute its quota to the transformation of agriculture and other human endeavours in the state.

Fintiri urged farmers to ensure that their certified seeds were well stored after harvest.

He appealed to the partners to devise means of providing farmers with good natural fertilisers.

“This is to protect the crops as well as the health of the farmers and the entire citizens against the negative effect of chemical fertilisers,” he said.

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Chief of Party, Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated Agricultural Activity, Mr Prakash Silwal, said that no fewer than 30,000 farmers had been trained on modern farming techniques.

He noted that the fair was an opportunity for producers of various crops, seeds and food, among others, to sell their products.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs Dorathy Augustine, noted that the initiative had impacted positively on the agriculture production in the state.

She said that the improvement was made possible by the awareness raised among farmers on the importance of quality and improved seeds production.

Umar Hamidu, a participant, said that the knowledge acquired on modern farming techniques and improved seedlings had boosted his agricultural activities. (NAN)

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