OBASEKI: "TACKLING THE FOREX CRISIS REQUIRES LOCAL MANUFACTURING AND EXPORTS."

The foreign exchange market, often known as the currency market, is a worldwide decentralized over-the-counter (OTC) market where currencies are traded. The foreign exchange rates for each currency are set by this market. It covers every facet of purchasing, selling, and converting currencies at established or current rates. It is by far the biggest market in the world in terms of trade volume, with the credit market coming in second. The bigger international banks are the primary players in this industry. With the exception of weekends, financial hubs all over the world serve as anchors for trading between a variety of different types of buyers and sellers.

According to Godwin Obaseki, the governor of Edo State, the federal government may address the current foreign exchange problem by implementing fiscal policies that incentivize manufacturers to increase local output and obtain loans in order to increase exports of goods created in Nigeria.

This was said by Obaseki on Tuesday during a courtesy visit to Government House in Benin City with Francis Meshioye, the National President of the Manufacturers' Association of Nigeria, and other executives.

The governor stated that the manufacturers' association was essential to the survival of the country's economy and pointed out that Edo State is using its distinct advantage—the availability of raw resources for manufacturing and production—to propel economic growth.

“Nigeria has continued to rely on imported goods and services that they do not produce over the last 40 years,” he stated. We no longer have foreign exchange, so we are now forced to consume the goods that we produce domestically. As a country, we don't export any produced items, but MAN can help by focusing the economy on manufacturing.

“We must foster an atmosphere that will allow the association to flourish and abandon the ideas that the government should not compete with the private sector or those who provide services to us, as this influences government policy and the government views these individuals as criminals while viewing those who inflate the budget as nationalists.”

Speaking about the State's efforts to increase production, Obaseki stated, “We have created encouraging policies for people who want to go into timber plantations and have come out with strong environmental policies to re-grow the forest and wood industry, ensuring that forest guards are re-introduced to police the forest and stop illegal logging.”

The governor stated, “The State through the ESOPP Program gave seven investors 70,000 hectares of land to grow oil palm,” highlighting the fact that Edo State has the largest oil palm development program in Africa.

In Edo State, we anticipated this for a long time and responded with courage. One of the main actions we took was to restructure our educational system, especially the foundational education, to make sure that the next generation of residents is well-educated. We envision Nigeria providing the highest caliber labor in the coming decades.

The governor of Edo has made significant economic progress, positioning the state as a top investment destination for the private sector, according to the National President of the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria.

Since the Midwest is a center for industrial activity, working with the government to implement policies and programs that would accelerate industrial growth is essential to reviving Edo State's manufacturing sector.

“We are happy about the progress in promoting the influx of investments in Edo through the yearly Alaghodaro, which has given rise to a number of manufacturing partnerships between the public and private sectors, including the Duport Refinery, Green Hill Ethanol Plant, Ossiomo Power, and Edo Production hub.”