United Kingdom registered companies operating in Nigeria have lamented their inability to meet their financial obligations as a result of scarcity of foreign exchange (forex) in the country and have called on the federal government to intervene, to keep the businesses afloat.
This was the outcome of an interactive session with the minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo and governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
The UK business team which had representatives of GlaxoSmithKline, Savanna Energy, AzuraPower West Africa, Guinness Plc, among others, said they need forex to pay their lenders and maintain their machines.
According to a statement by the special adviser on media to the trade minister, Ifedayo Sayo, the managing director of Azura Power West Africa, Edu Okeke, lauded the CBN for its support for the power generation company but sought more in terms of forex to enable the company to stay afloat. He said the company needed forex not only to pay their lenders outside the country but also for the maintenance of their plants.
In his remark, Adebayo, who facilitated the meeting, said the growth of these companies would mean more money for the government to build more infrastructure and also create jobs for the teeming Nigerian youths.
Also speaking, Emefiele, who was represented by CBN deputy governor of economic policy, Kingsley Obiora, explained that the apex bank was doing its best to assist manufacturers with forex.
He said the three main sources of forex inflow to the Nigerian economy are crude oil sales, remittances from Nigerians abroad and foreign investors.
Emefiele noted that the fall in the prices of crude oil has affected the inflow of forex, adding that this informed the ban on the importation of goods that can be produced locally to ensure judicious use of the available forex.
He assured that some of the suggestions raised by the companies would be looked into to assist them in their daily operations.
