Tony Elumelu in Qatar: Naira becomes stable, making Nigeria attractive to investors
Reported by Bloomberg
According to tycoon Tony Elumelu, the naira has been stable in recent months, allowing investors to better plan for activities in Africa’s most populous nation.
The naira has hovered between 1,588 and 1,611 per dollar this month after facing recurrent volatility since 2023. This is due to devaluations intended to lure inflows and end dollar shortages in Nigeria.
“The naira is becoming quite stable,” Elumelu, the United Bank for Africa chairman and a member of the Presidential Economic Coordination Council in Nigeria, said at the Qatar Economic Forum. “I’d like to see that continuing.”
Central Bank of Nigeria policies, including clearing a backlog of dollar demand, offering fixed-income securities at high yields to attract portfolio inflows, and boosting dollar supply to the forex market after US President Donald Trump’s trade war, helped stabilise the currency.
“Currency volatility is a challenge for Africa and Asia. In the global south, fixing the volatility of our currencies will be critical for ultimately developing our economies,” said Elumelu, the biggest shareholder of Transnational Corp. of Nigeria Plc.
The government of the State of Qatar is the underwriter of the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg.
