Worst is over: Airtel CEO, Ogusanya predicts bright future for Naira, gives reasons

Olusegun Ogusanya, the CEO of Airtel Nigeria, has predicted a brighter future for the Nigerian currency, the naira, despite its recent free fall.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Ogusanya noted that Nigeria is unlikely to see another steep devaluation of its currency.

Airtel Nigeria reported a $471 million foreign exchange loss for the six months from April to September 2023 due to the depreciation of the naira.

Reacting, the Airtel Boss said:

“I do not think we will have another massive devaluation from where we are now like we had in our first quarter."

"The devaluation after the first quarter has not been as massive.”

Naira to dollar exchange rate

The naira has lost more than 40% of its value against the dollar since June after the central bank allowed it to trade more freely.

Speaking further, Ogunsanya said:

"In other countries, they may face devaluation issues, but we do have increased liquidity. I believe this won't be a problem for Nigerians anymore as the CBN begins clearing forex debts."

CBN finds FX solution

Meanwhile, to tackle the forex challenges, the Central Bank of Nigeria has commenced the payments of forex debt owed to international banks, investors and companies, BusinessDay reports.

One of the foreign banks, Citi Bank, confirmed the development.

The bank noted: “It is a gradual payment that was done secretly, CBN didn’t make a fuss about it. It started yesterday and continued all through the night.”

Legit.ng reports that the CBN supplied commercial banks with about $6.7 billion on November 2, 2023, to clear the long overdue backlogs plaguing the naira.