A former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun, Obasanjo, has once again called for the adoption of a single African currency.
Obasanjo made the call while contributing to a Fireside Chat at the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2025) in the Algerian capital, Algiers. The Chat was moderated by CNBC Africa’s Fifi Peters.
According to him, Africa’s over-reliance on the US dollar was weakening African economies and undermining the continent’s development agenda.
Specifically, he bemoaned the depreciation of the Naira, saying the naira has today lost so much value.
He recounted that back in 1979 when he went into farming after leaving office as military head of state, one naira exchanged for $1.80.
However, he said today, $1 is equivalent to about 1,600 naira, asking “What have we done to devalue our currency to this extent.”
He lamented that “Something must be wrong. I cannot believe that in my own lifetime, the naira has become so devalued that it is not even worth the paper it is printed on.”
According to him, the continent’s continuous dependence on the dollar and euro for trading is unnecessary.
He says “If we are trading between Algeria and Uganda, why should we be looking for dollars or euros. The Ugandan trader wants his shillings, not dollars. That is the kind of system Afreximbank is promoting, and it is the kind of solution Africa urgently needs.”
Source:Africa Publicity
