Economy

Nigeria shuts down 3 embassies abroad

Published

5 years ago

May 22, 2019

Eric

The Nigerian government has shut down three of its embassies abroad and downsized another one due to insufficient funds.

While speaking during a press conference on Tuesday, May 21, 2019, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said operations have been shut down in Sri Lanka, Czech Republic and the Republic of Serbia while the embassy in Ukraine has been drastically downsized.

He said the ministry has been unable to maintain the embassies due to insufficient funds, thereby enforcing the shutdowns because they’re left in terrible states unsuitable of the nation’s status.

He said, “Every embassy has written to us about their huge financial demands and when we go to these embassies we see clearly very unattractive state that does not reflect well on the country.

“Very often the staff of the embassy really find things extremely difficult. Clearly, if we want to operate on the scale and scope in which we are at the moment with over a 100 missions around the world, we need to spend a lot more.

“What I am saying is that rather than having this terrible circle of inadequate funding for missions, headquarters and so forth we have to reduce the scope.

“We should have foreign missions that we can fund, we might not necessarily close the embassies per se, it might be reducing the number of staff in the embassies.”

80 of Nigeria’s embassies abroad were not captured for funding in the 2019 appropriation bill submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

While defending the budget estimate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs in April, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mustapha Suleiman, said only 30 embassies can be funded with the capital votes earmarked in the budget.

Since he was inaugurated in 2015, President Buhari has been vocal about reducing Nigeria’s total of 119 foreign missions.

In September 2015, he announced that a committee would undertake a review of Nigerian foreign missions to determine those that are really essential so that appropriate standards and quality can be maintained.

“Let’s keep only what we can manage. We can’t afford much for now. There’s no point in pretending,” he told officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Economy

Naira Begins Week on a Low, Trades at N1,419/$1 in Official Window

Published

1 day ago

April 30, 2024

Eric

The Naira began the week on a losing note against the American dollar on Monday, April 29, 2024 at the official window to trade at N1,419/$1.

This is according to data sourced from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window.

At the end of trading on Monday, the Naira lost N19.88 against the dollar compared to the previous exchange rate of N1,399.23/$1 on Friday, April 27, 2024.

The intra-day high and low recorded during the day were N1,451/$1 and N1,060 /$1 respectively, representing a wide spread of N391/$1.

However, the Naira gained against the dollar at the parallel section of the market trading at N1,330/$1 representing a gain of N100 compared to the N1,430/$1 it traded the previous day.

Contrastingly, the Naira gained against the pound. The domestic currency appreciated by N10 against the British Pound to trade at N1,640/£1 as against the previous trading price of N1,650/£1 representing a gain of N10 for the local currency,

The Canadian dollar however closed flat against the naira to trade at N1,000/CA$1 same as the previous trading day rate.

The Euro also slumped against the Naira to trade at N1,430/€1 as against the rate of N1,450/€1 the previous trading rate indicating a gain of N20 for the Nigerian currency.

Economy

Naira Makes More Recovery, Sells at N1,453/$1

Published

1 month ago

March 22, 2024

Eric

The Naira continued its appreciation at the official market on Thursday, March 21, 2024 to close at N1,453.28/$1, according to data from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).

This represents an appreciation of N39.33 when compared to the N1,492.61/$1 it closed on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.

The intraday high was N1,598/$1, while the intraday low was N1,300/$1, representing a wide spread of N298/$1.

Similarly, the Naira appreciated against the dollar at the parallel window to trade at N1,500/$1, this represents an appreciation of N20.00 as against the N1,520 /$1 it traded the previous day.

The Naira also appreciated slightly against the British Pound to trade at N2,000/£1 as against the previous trading day’s price of N2,020/£1 representing a gain of N20 for the local currency.

The Canadian dollar, however, closed flat against the naira to trade at N1,270/CA$1 same as the N1,270/CA$1 it traded the previous day representing a decline of N20 in the local currency.

The Naira gained N30 against the Euro to trade at N1,670/€1 as against the previous closing price of N1,700/€1.

Economy

Naira Gains Against Dollar, Trades at N1,603/$1

Published

2 months ago

March 13, 2024

Eric

The Naira, Tuesday continued its recovery against the American dollar as it traded at N1,603.38/$1, data from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window has shown.

This represents a gain of N15.48 when compared to the N1,617.96/$1 it closed on, on Monday, March 11, 2024.

The intraday high was N1,637/$1, while the intraday low was N1,425.35/$1, representing a lean spread of N211.65/$1.

Meanwhile, the Naira gained N12 against the dollar at the parallel market as the local currency appreciated to N1,603/$1 as against the N1,615 /$1 it traded the previous day. As it stands, the naira is trading at the same rate at both official and parallel windows.

The Naira, however, slumped against the British Pound to trade at N2,050/£1 as against the previous trading day’s price of N2,030/£1 representing a loss of N20 for the local currency.

After about two weeks of closing flat against the Canadian dollar, the naira slumped massively to trade at N1,300/CA$1 on Tuesday, representing a decline of N150 when compared to the N1,150/CA$1 it traded the previous day.

The Naira lost N35 against the Euro to trade at N1,740/€1 as against the previous closing price of N1,705/€1 representing a loss of N35 for the local currency.