Policy Briefs
Selonnes Policy Tidbits: |Nigeria Experiencing Capital & Corporate flight due to faux policies
Extenuating political circumstances have foisted on Nigeria unprecedented dual-tracked capital and corporate flight. The development is linked to vagaries of Nigerian politics and governance difficulties. A grossly devalued Naira; trapped expatriate remittances -both personal and corporate- have resulted in the rapid outflow of assets or money and corporate exits. Unbridled import consumption habits, laggardly domestic production bereft of revenue earning exports and insecurity, have combined to create discernible uncertainties. Faux policies are creating dissembling concerns. Inflation rages on all fronts, especially cost of food & medicaments.
Rising inflation continue to impact negatively on Forex availability and purchasing power of Nigerians. Diaspora remittances, once a buffer, are halting and unrestrained governmental borrowings without adequate collaterals, continue to erode foreign and domestic investors’ confidence. With GSK gone, followed by Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Unilever’s partial disengagement, highbrow international grocers ShopRite is likely to follow. ShopRite has announced the shuttering of its Kano outlet. The heady question is which other cities will also experience shutdowns?
These unfurling developments ought to be troubling for Africa’s biggest economy that prides itself on its sustainable huge and emerging market. What is more troubling is Nigeria’s loss of the bragging rights that no MNCs ever lost their investments in Nigeria or ever exited. If the ruling APC government cannot practice fiscal discipline with agonizing cuts in cost of governance, things will get worse in Nigeria long before they ever get better. Now is the moment of truth.
