President Tinubu needs look Nigerians in the eye and tell them the bitter truth about the naira. We actually need a weak currency as it gives us a competitive export advantage

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Nigerians are currently bemoaning the weak state of the naira. Let us be honest, they are only doing so because of the impact the development has had on their beloved imported products. It is thus no surprise that my people want a short-term quick fix

[2] When your currency is weak, imports are expensive and exports are cheap. It is no accident that the Chinese intentionally keep their yuan weak because the comparative advantage it gives them in export markets

[3] When you are a parasitic consumerist economy like Nigeria, a weak currency is a death sentence. What President Tinubu needs to tell Nigerians is that we can turn the situation to our advantage by stepping up manufacturing

[4] Here is a pie chart, which offers a breakdown of the Nigerian economy into its component sectors. As you can see, manufacturing only accounts for 7% of gross domestic product (GDP). This for me is at the root of all our problems as a nation

[5] Do you know the global average with regards to manufacturing as a percentage of GDP is 30%. When we only have about one quarter of that, you can see why we are in trouble

[6] In China, manufacturing as a percentage of GDP is a whopping 40% and in developing economies similar to Nigeria such as Indonesia, Mexico, Iran and Brazil, it is 47%, 34.2%, 40.6% and 27.4% respectively

[7] Nigeria currently has a GDP of about $550bn. If we can double the contribution of manufacturing as a percentage of GDP, I think we can easily boost that figure to $1trn

[8] No matter how many dollars you throw at the naira, any respite is temporary as ultimately, the strength of your economy is what really determines the value of your currency. We import so much that any vagaries in the global currency market automatically has an inflationary impact on Nigeria

[9] Nigeria actually has a lot to leverage on as we can use agriculture as a basis to manufacture agri-based products. We also have enough solid minerals to began manufacturing finished industrial goods like pipe rods, machine tools, ball bearings, etc. We also have enough oil and gas to become a major player in the global petro-chemicals industry

[10] Necessity they say is the mother of invention. Sometimes, you need the bony hand hunger to actually force the pace of developments, which for me is what Nigeria needs at the moment. I would just love it if President Tinubu addressed the nation tomorrow, ruling out a naira rescue plan, unveiling a manufacturing programme instead.