Financial Experts has alerted Nigeria to the possibility that most foreigners would leave the country and take their investment along as 2019 elections approaches due to the uncertainty of macroeconomic policies.
The experts warned Nigeria not to be carried away by the arrival of foreign portfolio investment dominating the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), saying “noting that a combination of highly mobile portfolio investments and unreliable crude earnings could unravel without warning, and cause external reserves to decline, as experienced from April to November 2008”. They urged the Federal Government to strengthen the non-oil export sector rather than depend solely on rising oil prices.
Dr. Biodun Adedipe, who is the Chief Consultant, B. Adedipe Associates Limited advised “We need to do at least 50 percent of what we did yesterday to get to the historical peak the stock market in Nigeria ever reached, and that was in 2008,” he maintained that the foreign exchange liquidity is gradually pushing Nigeria to another worrisome stage, adding that the economy could nosedive if government do not strengthening the non-oil sector to diversify foreign earnings, and drive down reliance on consumption imports.
Adedipe tagged the 4th Economic Outlook: “Implication for businesses in Nigeria in 2018,” he said ”although Nigeria’s economic recovery is still fragile, there is hope as most economic agents remain upbeat and optimistic’’.
Meanwhile, the President/Chairman of Council, CIBN, Prof. Segun Ajibola, tasked economic managers to urgently address issues such as the current high unemployment rate, which rose exponentially from 14.2 percent to 18.8 percent in 2017.
