Nigerian tycoon, Tony Elumelu, has assured that the new leadership at the Central Bank of Nigeria will help restore confidence in the nation’s currency.
Olayemi Michael Cardoso formally assumed duties as acting governor of the CBN on Friday, pending his confirmation by the Senate.
That didn’t stop the naira from weakening. It depreciated to N992 per dollar in the unofficial market, according to the Forward Marketing Bureau de Change Ltd., which compiles the data.
The rate compares with N900 at the start of the month, and is some 30% weaker than its official Thursday close of 772.98 on the FMDQ trading platform.
“The reason people are accumulating dollars is not because they need it now, it is because of lack of confidence,” Elumelu said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in New York.
“The new central bank team is “very capable” and will be able to bring confidence,” he said.
Elumelu, who is the chairman of United Bank for Africa Plc and the biggest shareholder of Transnational Corp. of Nigeria Plc, the nation’s biggest conglomerate, said there’s panic because Nigerians don’t know where the currency will settle.
The naira is Africa’s worst-performing among 24 currencies on the continent monitored by Bloomberg.
Transcorp controls about 16% of Nigeria’s electricity generating capacity, runs hotels and explores for oil.
That gives Elumelu an avenue to expand in areas that are crucial for Africa’s most-populous nation.
“The missing link has been poor leadership and I believe that we all know there’s so much private global capital, seeking the right investment destination,” Elumelu said.
Shares of his companies have surged this year in dollar terms. Transcorp has more than doubled in 2023, while United Bank has advanced about 40%.
The CBN is undergoing a leadership change as Cardoso has assumed office as the Acting Governor, amidst a foreign exchange crisis.
This development was confirmed by Isa AbdulMumin, CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications on Friday.
Cardoso’s appointment comes following the resignation of former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.
The former governor tendered his resignation while under the custody of the Department of State Security Services.
Emefiele’s departure was preceded by his suspension in June, ordered by President Bola Tinubu, who also initiated a probe into the activities of the apex bank.
Alongside Emefiele, all deputy governors of the CBN have also resigned.
These include Folashodun Shonubi, Aishah Ahmad, Edward Adamu and Kingsley Obiora. Shonubi had been acting as CBN Governor since Emefiele’s suspension.
President Tinubu nominated Cardoso for the governorship position on September 15. In addition to this, Emem Usoro, Abdullahi Dattijo, Philip Ikeazor and Bala Bello were nominated as deputy governors. However, these nominations are pending confirmation by the Senate.
As Cardoso and his colleagues assume their roles in an acting capacity, they have already begun administering the monetary and financial sector policies of the Federal Government.
The new leadership took their oaths of office at a brief ceremony held at the bank’s head office in Abuja.
The CBN said on Thursday that it had delayed an interest rate meeting that had been planned for next week and that it would schedule a new meeting later.
In a statement on its website, the Central Bank of Nigeria did not say why the September 25-26 meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee was delayed and a new date would be set later.
The postponement comes days after President Bola Tinubu nominated a new CBN governor and four new deputy governors. The Senate is yet to hold confirmation hearings for Tinubu’s picks.
In July, the central bank opted for a small rate hike at the first monetary policy meeting since Tinubu suspended Emefiele.
Emefiele oversaw a much-criticised system of multiple exchange rates used to keep the local naira currency artificially strong and lent directly to businesses to try to boost growth in Africa’s biggest economy.
Tinubu criticized the CBN’s policies under Emefiele at his inauguration in May, saying they needed “thorough house-cleaning”.
