1. Check excess liquidity and currency racketeering/fraud (see Henry Boyo's explanation. . . I have posted many stuffs about it previously), while promulgating industry revolutionizing monetary policies.
2. Amend our laws to draw in investors (use propaganda if need be).
3. Amend power generation and transmission laws to attract investors in that sector . . . do everything possible on earth and beyond to achieve at the least, 15 hours stable power supply averagely (this would catalyze industrial revolution, while reducing demand for refined pet. products).
4. Refineries -- we need all four gov't refineries, and tens of modular ones running since last decade -- until we stop the importation of refined petroleum products that eats up, up to 30-40% of our Forex, we are going no where!
We were bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in the early 90s from refined products exports, right now, we should have colonized West Africa with NNPC products everywhere (refined products have no OPEC cap)!
5. Encourage exports, and local content.
Re: Senator Bruce: As much as I admire his vigor and enthusiasm about the whole 'buyNaija' awareness, it's just a fraction in the scheme of things!
While importing palm oil from the same Malaysia we introduced palm oil to, importing eggs from South Africa we fought and paid to liberate, importing rice from a politically unstable Thailand, or toothpicks from hell are all 'weirdos', they account for far less than what
importation of refined petroleum products cost us; then we have the importation of aircrafts and parts and servicing which costs us hundreds of millions of dollars annually -- but Bruce believes it's about our average $20-$50 shoes or bags, $100 phones, or what-not (roughly 10-20 percent of our forex demand), or about our cheap $5,000 cars which by the way generates income for customs when they 'land', while gov't and it's officials are actually the ones bringing the forex gulping machines (probably without paying custom duties).
NBS just released a report indicating between January 2010 - September 2015, we spent over N20 trillion (roughly $130 BILLION . . . 2014 dollar) on just importation of PMS, AGO, and DPK alone!
Same refined products we mine from our backyards, same refined products we were net exporters of (raking in millions of dollars from), 25 years ago! If this is not madness, what is?
Re: Ifeanyi Ubah: Though he is yet to disclose his so called "secret" or magic wand (but I guess it is: probably supporting the country's fuel import-consumption . . . probably for some while).
My own idea of bringing the dollar exchange rate to below N200 in say 3 months would be namely:
Stop the importation of refined products now and find alternative to how we survive without it -- it gulps 40% of our forex!
Crazy, right? However, we probably can (everyone's contribution and criticism would be helpful here), if the gov't is serious about it, and if it can carry the people along especially with the budding awareness of the demise of our economy.
1. Get the NNPC, special task forces, Armed forces, and the people on board as regards protecting the pipelines.
2. Get NNPC to make sure the refineries do not slouch again, rather, increasing in production.
3. Get the few trains we have working, and create an awareness on conserving fuel.
4. Provide very affordable mass transit buses, while encouraging car owners to shed usage, or re-introduce something similar to our old 'odd number/even number system' for cars that should have access to the road on particular days.
5. Provide gas, give free/cheap cylinders to boot if necessary.
6. Power: without fairly stable power supply it will be a difficult one. Fairly stable power reduces the need for PMS and AGO, reduces importation of generators and alternative power equipment.
7. Checkmate cross-border fuel smuggling.
8. Modular refineries: they can be imported and made operational in months.
9. Sell off some portion of gov't assets to foreign investors. #ppp
Additionals:
10. Encourage Nigerians overseas to invest back home.
11. Recover all debts, 'stolens', and 'accruables'.
12. Reduce gov't recurrent expenditure and buying local for all gov't purposes if available -- starting with them senator's cars, and presidential budget and travels.
13. Consider changing currency colors.
14. Agric exports.
If we can do all the above (sounds crazy though . . . desperate situation calls for desperate measures), our refined fuel consumption rate should drop to 'near' what NNPC can support, or at worst, greatly reduce importation of refined fuel by more than 60%. Then we "buynaija"; the Naira will firm up, and the CBN can probably tweak the exchange rate to gain say N2-N4/$, which will indicate a direction of positive purpose, causing the BM, hoarders, and racketeers to panic-sell their dollars, while the CBN tries its best to enforce and enhance/support a strict range for bank rates.
Devaluation in our case', is a symptomatic approach to a systematic malady: underlying causes won't be cured!
It's like taking paracetamol as a curative for stage 4 cancer -- it 'probably' might make your pain dissipate (very likely it won't), but just for a very little while.
*Everyone's contribution and criticism would be helpful here.
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