By Atoyebi Nike
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, says Nigeria is on track to experience a more favourable exchange rate as recent monetary and economic reforms begin to yield results. Speaking during the visit of Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, to the Dangote Refinery and Fertiliser plant in Lagos, Dangote noted that stability is gradually returning to the naira-dollar exchange market, helping restore investor confidence.
He praised President Bola Tinubu for being a “listening president” whose policies especially the Naira-for-Crude initiative and Nigeria First strategy are reviving local industry. “There’s now less fluctuation in the exchange rate,” Dangote said, “which brings predictability and allows businesses to plan better.”
He also commended the government’s creation of a One-Stop Shop (OSS) for regulatory and security agencies involved in the crude and port sectors. The move, he said, has eased bottlenecks and allowed for swift resolution of challenges. Dangote stressed the importance of pricing crude in naira to strengthen local refining, warning that continued importation of fuel undermines local capacity.
While Dangote has advocated banning fuel imports under the Nigeria First policy, oil marketers and analysts have opposed the idea, citing potential market distortions. Still, the industrialist insists that the best path forward lies in prioritizing local production to boost the economy and protect investments in the sector.
