Naira crunch and the crumbling economy

By Damilare Adeleye

As I write to you, many local businesses have been crippled and winded up. Many micro and small businesses in the country are in their death throes. This is evident in the scantity of many overcrowded markets as many customers and traders do not readily have enough or any cash for ease business transactions.

It is perhaps not a strange news when our local currency falls against foreign currencies like US Dollar, UK Pound, Euro, etcetera. But, the unusual has fully started displaying like a crazy masquerade as our banknotes have become unexpectedly rare which has now birthed parallel and black markets where prices are inconsiderably pegged for the collection of Naira currency. Succinctly speaking, the scarcity of naira notes being witnessed in our own fatherland in the last few weeks is an unprecedented chaos that has inflicted more pain and hardship than gain on many Nigerians across the country. It is so saddening that middle class Nigerians will struggle at work for money and still queue, shout, wrestle and spend a whole day at withdrawal points before they could obtain their money. This unfortunate development is undoubtedly and totally strange and incomprehensible, just to say the least.

Truly, the redesignation of N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was a welcome development that was hoped to propel prosperity and life to our dying economy. The cash withdrawal limits policy too was expected to bring solutions and sanity to the myriad of problems bewildering our nation’s financial status. We were even at rest when the apex bank management argued that redesigning the three major currencies, as it has been empowered by the constitution to carry out as a global practices, would curb terrorism financing, mop up the rampant counterfeit of the old notes and most importantly lead to recovery of N2.7 trillion which had been kept outside the banking system. However, since the unveiling of the new naira notes by President Muhammadu Buhari with short timeframe for swapping to the new currencies, the Nigerian banknotes have become so scarce as tail of tortoise. This, as a result, has been harshly biting hard on average citizens who heavily rely on cash transactions for daily living. Many of us are denied access to our hard-earned money both at overcounter points and at Automated Teller Machine (ATM) galleries due to the apparent shortage of new naira notes in circulation.

As I write to you, many local businesses have been crippled and winded up. Many micro and small businesses in the country are in their death throes. This is evident in the scantity of many overcrowded markets as many customers and traders do not readily have enough or any cash for ease business transactions. For days now, my own mother who sells cloth materials in a local market in Ogun State, has been making little or no sales as this current lack of cash grips many others. Perhaps, it is who has sufficient fund for food will remember to buy cloth at this point where everyone is struggling for survival. Some of my neighbours who also engage in POS business has recently closed down due to non-availability of naira which they certainly needed for their business.

To make matters worse, some POS merchants have taken advantage of the dire situation to rip off their countrymen. We unavoidably negotiate the price of money we urgently need. The reality is simply that we purchase the money we need for our basic necessities. I could not hold my resentment when I was told by one of the POS agents in my area that it would cost me N2,000 before I could get just Ten Thousand Naira (N10,000) which I needed for my food stuff as a student. I asked him what would be left out of the whole money I had planned to maintain for the month? The truth is that the economy is not buoyant and favourable as expected. Even, goods and services, transportation, among others are now at very expensive cost, sadly at the detriment of our livelihoods and beyond one’s imagination.

While I believe that CBN policy is deemed good for our country, especially to prevent the menace of vote buying in the upcoming elections which I strongly support, it should, however, not to be out of place to consider the masses who are largely affected and majorly bearing the brunt of the scarcity. We have seen footages of violence in some parts of the country, just as we have seen viral clips of naked Nigerians crying, lamenting and begging publicly for their money. The government should be humane at this time to look into its monetary policies. If cashless financial system is the agenda of the CBN, which most of us have observed, then, strong internet connection, constant electricity and adequate sensitisation of the citizens should first off be the main objectives to achieve for seamless and smooth running of the system. The possible events of bank hackers, slow and failed e-transactions despite debits alerts should also be maximally minimised to boost people’s confidence.

To end, the federal government and CBN should end this avoidable era of naira crunch. If truly that the CBN did not have sufficient new notes to distribute across the country as alleged, it would be of best interest to allow the old notes to continue as legal tender till enough of the new denominations are printed and judiciously circulated length and breadth of the country. This, I hope, will avert our economy from total crumbling.

Damilare Adeleye, a freelance journalist, writes from Lagos State University.

Russian and African legislators meet and what next?

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

The Russian Foreign Ministry and the State Duma (the lower Chamber of Parliamentarians) have agreed to hold the next International Parliamentary Conference “Russia – Africa” in March. In several official reports, this International Parliamentary Conference was considered as an important stage and integral part of the preparation for the Russia-Africa summit planned for late July.

Under the chairmanship of Boris Vyacheslavovich Gryzlov, the first Russia-Africa Inter-Parliamentary Conference and a special business forum with the theme “Russia – Africa: Horizons of Cooperation” was held on June 15 -17, 2010. The Federation Council and the State Duma still remember the final joint declaration made at the end of the gathering. Absolutely, nothing was pursued and nothing was achieved after that conference in 2010.

Significant change only appeared when Vyacheslav Volodin became the Chairman of the State Duma. The urgent revival of the idea to bring together African parliamentarians appeared on the political scene – a prelude to the first Russia-Africa summit in 2019.

The State Duma then with the Ambassadors of African countries in the Russian Federation held a preparatory meeting to brainstorm for views and opinions for consolidating the future of Russia-Africa relations. The meeting was also aimed at preparing for the proposed Inter-Parliamentary Conference Russia-Africa planned in 2019.

Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma, stressed the importance of regular meetings to shape the future relations between Russia and Africa. “We have great expectations for the interparliamentary conference Russia-Africa which we are planning to hold in 2019. In our opinion, it will serve as a stimulus and initiate some processes aimed at the development of relations between our parliaments,” said the Chairman of the State Duma, opening that meeting in April 2019.

“We are going to provide support through the parliamentary dimension for the development of inter-parliamentary contacts in terms of the preparation of the Russia-Africa conference. It was initiated by President Vladimir Vladimirovich during the 10th Anniversary BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in July,” the Chairman of the State Duma emphasized.

During that time, it was believed that such a format would allow to productively discuss the agenda on intensifying relations, bring together approaches on a number of issues and contribute to the preparation of the conference in the framework of agreements reached at the level of heads of state. Still, various agreements are undelivered as noted in the authoritative report titled ‘Situation Analytical Report’ complied by 25 policy experts headed by Professor Sergei Karaganov. That report was presented publicly in November 2021.

Leonid Slutskiy, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, expressed the hope that two-sided parliamentarians meeting would become regular and would be constantly held in Moscow. With the primary aim of creating the basis of a long-term cooperation and the intention of supporting the steady growing interest of Africans in geopolitical developments, Russia now plans to invite heads of African parliaments in March

2023 to Moscow.

The parliamentary platform could be used to exchange views on common problems, common issues for the African continent and the Russian Federation. In addition, as it is always noted and a standard approach, the line-up speeches and presentations full of anti-Western and anti-Europe confrontation instead of concentrating on development-oriented and business initiatives with African countries.

The State Duma, through constructive discussions with African parliamentarians, could possibly increase the efficiency of interaction on issues requiring joint decisions, including sustainable development, international security, environmental protection, fighting poverty and inequality and countering terrorism.

The State Duma has to outline Russia’s priorities for mutual cooperation and further offer useful comprehensive programmes, proposals for cooperation with African countries, with the regional economic blocs and with the pan-African Union. Majority of the African countries are currently looking to improve on their economies and consequently ready to welcome potential external investors with adequate investment funds, regards of political underpinnings. Understandably, geopolitical neutrality is a pragmatic approach for not dispelling potential genuine external players.

As Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted, in his speech delivered in July 2019 at parliamentary forum held in the World Trade Center (WTC) overlooking the Krasnopresnenskaya Naberezhnaya in Moscow, that the State Duma has to bring parliamentarians together for a common purpose of deliberating on the widest range of topical issues, such as global security, sustainable development, the fight against poverty and environmental problems.

Parliamentary diplomacy has to make significant and in-depth contributions to supporting trust and mutual understanding between countries in their search for compromises and balanced solutions to acute international problems, according to Foreign Minister Lavrov.

Interesting to note along these lines of our discussion that since that gathering in 2010, Russian and African parliamentarians have been interacting, mostly chatting over global and regional questions. Reports we have monitored show that many African legislators have visit Moscow. And in terms of reciprocity, Russian legislators have paid a number of working visits to Africa. That is highly commendable, but what African regions, what African countries and what were the results? What have been the achievements aside raising collective voices against “neo-colonialism” and “hegemony” and further make numerous pledges and promises.

Concretely aiming at strengthening further mutual bilateral parliamentary relations, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko headed a group of Russian senators on a reciprocal visit from May 30 – June 01, 2022, to Maputo, Mozambique. The Chairperson of the Federation Council delivered speeches to the deputies of the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique and had a separate meeting with the Russia-Mozambique Parliamentary Friendship League.

She expressed satisfaction with the dynamic development of inter-parliamentary relations, the legal basis of which was the protocol on the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation between the Federation Council and the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique.

“Today we will take a new important step towards strengthening the legal framework and sign a full-fledged agreement on interparliamentary cooperation between the Federation Council and the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique that meets modern realities. This will allow us to bring our inter-parliamentary contacts to a higher level, and open up broad prospects for the exchange of experience in legislative activity,” Matviyenko emphasized.

In this context of bilateral economic cooperation, the Mozambican Head of State, however, expressed satisfaction with the openness that Russia has been showing high interest to expand bilateral cooperation with Mozambique, especially in the economic and social sectors. Reports monitored from local Mozambican media as well from both Russian and Mozambican government websites indicated that Russia has still been looking for feasible and viable economic sectors to strengthen and broaden cooperation with Mozambique.

Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, during discussions with the Mozambican leader Filipe Nyusi, referred to the need to increase trade between Russia and Mozambique, which amounted to approximately $109 million, and described trade figure as well below its potential. Senator Matvienko, then, invited the Mozambican government to identify more priority areas in which cooperation could be expanded, if Mozambique so agrees on this significant assignment or policy task.

After the Soviet collapse and throughout these three decades (30 years) of Russia-Mozambique relations, Russia and Mozambique have been appropriately described as “reliable and time-tested” partners in Africa. Reviewing the evolutionary processes of bilateral relations, it is about time to highlight development projects undertaken or are currently in progress. But for the Highly Respected Speaker Valentina Matviyenko requesting the Mozambican government to identify priority areas for expansion of cooperation, especially at this time in their bilateral history, seems completely out of place. Completely out, especially during the meeting with President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi.

Long before the Russian delegation’s visit to Maputo, Mozambican leader Filipe Nyusi was in Kremlin in August 2019, held business talks with President Vladimir Putin and then went on to deliver and answered several questions during a special business meeting with Russian entrepreneurs at the World Trade Center. According to several reports, there again bilateral agreements were signed between Moscow and Maputo.

Earlier during the month of February 2020, Chairperson of the Federation Council (the Upper House or the Senate), Valentina Matviyenko, headed a delegation of legislators on a three-day working visit aimed at strengthening parliamentary diplomacy with Namibia and Zambia. This visit showed Russia’s overwhelming commitment to pursuing its strategic interests and supporting its African allies.

Kestér Kenn Klomegâh is an Int’l Affairs Analyst.