Expert tasks CBN on swift adoption of flexible FX regime

As the Central Bank of Nigeria continues to tinker with the nation’s foreign exchange regime, a renowned banker and entrepreneur, Mr. Adebola Akindele has urged the apex bank on swift adoption of the proposed flexible Forex regime.

Speaking in an interview with The Daily Times of Nigeria in Lagos, Akindele who is the founder and Group Managing Director of Courteville Business solutions Plc, a Nigerian Stock Exchange- listed company under the ICT sector, said that the Monetary Policy Committee MPC and the CBN only came up with a statement but haven’t executed it up till this moment.

According to him, “It is still of lip services to a lot of things that we should be doing, it makes it all unclear. MPC or no MPC, nothing is clear. Even though I believed so much in the Nigeria as a nation and I also believed in the economy and the Nigerian government, as well as in Nigeria person or people but policies must be clear cut, we need to know where we are headed and need to know what we are doing.

“We need to be able to plan for all of these things; we even need to input all the issues relating to policy somersault. You need to include them in your budget so that you know where you are headed.

“If we know we are going on flexible Forex regime let us immediately start, sincr they made that pronouncement nothing like that has been affected.

You still apply for business travel allowances and you don’t get everything you want. They should just make up their mind on want to do and effect it, so that we know where we are headed.

Speaking on the mass sack that is currently rocking the banking sector, he stated that economic downturn is hitting hard virtually on all the sectors of the economy, “You wake up today and because of different reasons such as the recent happenings in the banking sector. Where some of them are laying off, industry are letting people go, companies are closing down because of forex.

Commenting on the contributions of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in growing the nation’s economy, Akindele, who has three decades of professional experiences spanning audit, banking, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, and technology, said : “SMEs should be the fulcrum on which the economy runs; SMEs should be the core of any economy,” adding that SMEs play a critical role in the development of any economy.

According to him, it is easier for a few big businesses to fail and fail the economy in the process, adding that millions of small businesses scattered all over the country will not fail at the same time no matter what.

“When a country relies on a mass like that which are doing well, it is only a matter of time before the economy will start doing well,” he added.

Speaking on the business environment in the country he said that the environment is harsh to entrepreneurs; especially young ones who want to establish and run their own businesses.

However, he gave young, budding and would-be entrepreneurs tips on how to successfully manage and grow their businesses in the hostile Nigerian business space.

Akindele said that though the environment is tough, there are opportunities in the country for new businesses to thrive, adding that young and aspiring entrepreneurs should create a value proposition that people will be willing to buy into.