Nigeria’s Second Richest Man, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Discloses Issues With FX as Naira Crashes to Lowest

• BUA Group Chairman Abdul Samad Rabiu has described the foreign exchange problem in Nigeria as artificial and manipulative
• Rabiu disclosed this when he met President Tinubu alongside other critical stakeholders in Nigeria
• He said the issue of foreign exchange has been a significant challenge in the Nigerian economy in the last three months

Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported Tech, Energy, Stocks, Investment and the Economy for over a decade.

Nigerian industrialist Abdul Samad Rabiu has described the situation in the foreign exchange market as artificial and manipulative.

Rabiu disclosed this during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu alongside critical stakeholders in Nigeria on February 25, 2024.

CBN's key reforms to boost the naira

The Nigerian currency, the naira, has been subjected to high volatility since the unification of the Forex windows on June 14, 2025, with the naira trading as high as N1,900 per dollar in the parallel market and N1,665.50 per dollar in the official market.

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The Central Bank of Nigeria has issued vital reforms to boost the naira’s performance against the dollar and increase Forex liquidity, including a cap on FX repatriations by international oil firms and removing limits on FX transfers by International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs), among other reforms.

Rabiu said the discussion with President Tinubu was open, honest and exhaustive.

Abdul Samad Rabiu discloses discussion with Tinubu

According to the BUA Group Chairman, some issues raised at the meeting were primarily about foreign exchange rates, which he described as the main problem in the past three months.

He said:

“We discussed how to bring the foreign exchange rate down because we all know that what is happening regarding the foreign exchange is artificial and manipulative, and thank God the CBN is doing quite a lot,” he said.

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“Now, the exchange rate has come down from N1800 to maybe 1600 and N1500 now, and as you all know, everything in Nigeria is indexed to the foreign exchange, especially when it comes to stuff that we import into the country.”

Manufacturers offer solution

TheCable reports that the director-general of the Manufacturers Associaton of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said that the private sector is expecting the implementation of most of the decisions made with Tinubu.

The MAN boss said manufacturers expect a conducive environment to do business.

Ajayi-Kadir said:

“And so the issues surrounding foreign exchange, insecurity and general operating environment were discussed and we received the assurances of Mr. President that very soon we are going to start to see some major changes,” he said.

“And, I think the advisory committee that has been formed, the private sector, will play a very significant role, and Nigerians, going forward, should be hopeful that we are having solutions to our challenges.”

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CBN issues new guidelines BDCs

The development follows the collapse of the naira in the official market on Friday, February 23, 2024, at N1,665.50 per dollar.

A previous report by Legit.ng said the decline is the lowest in the history of the local currency in the official market as the dollar supply tanked.

On Friday, February 23, 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) proposed new regulations that would increase Nigeria’s minimum requirements for Bureau de Change (BDC) operators to N2 billion and N500 million for Tier 1 and Tier 2 licences, Legit.ng reported.

The latest development changes from the previous requirement of N35 million for a general license.

The new directive is in an Exposure draft in Nigeria's Revised Regulatory Supervisory Guidelines for Bureau De Change operations.

CBN said:

“The Guidelines revise the permissible activities, licensing requirements, corporate governance and Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CT) provisions for BDCs. It also sets out new record-keeping and reporting requirements, among others,” the publication said.

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According to the new regulations released by the apex bank, the updated regulations disclosed that once approved, the guidelines will come into effect on a date determined by the CBN.

The new guidelines require that Tier 1 operators maintain a minimum share capital of N2 billion and also submit a Mandatory Caution Deposit of N200 million, with an application fee of N1 million, while the license fee is N5 million.

IMF speaks on its alleged prediction of exchange rate

Legit.ng reported that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative for Nigeria, Christian Abeke, said the organisation does not publish exchange rate forecasts.

Abeke responded to widespread reports in the Nigerian media, quoting the IMF as forecasting the naira to dollar exchange rate for 2024.

He highlighted that the source of the report goes back to a report by the organisation in 2023, which it recently published.

Source: Legit.ng