The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced on Friday, April 16, 2021 that it plans to soon ban importers of sugar and wheat from accessing the nation's official foreign exchange markets.
The apex bank first announced such a restriction on a number of items in June 2015, noting that it would help conserve foreign exchange and encourage local production.
The importation of the items is not officially banned, but importers have to resort to other means, such as the black market, to source foreign exchange for the purchase.
This means the prices of the items in retail markets are costlier than usual, putting a strain on the pockets of consumers.
Even though 41 items were originally listed in 2015, other items have been tacked onto the list over the years.
The affected items are listed below:
- Rice
- Cement
- Margarine
- Palm kernel/palm oil products/vegetable oils
- Meat and processed meat products
- Vegetables and processed vegetable products
- Poultry - chicken, eggs, Turkey
- Private airplanes/jets
- Indian incense
- Tinned fish in sauce (Geisha)/Sardines
- Cold rolled steel sheets
- Galvanised steel sheets
- Roofing sheets
- Wheelbarrows
- Head pans
- Metal boxes and containers
- Enamelware
- Steel drums
- Steel pipes
- Wire rods (deformed and not deformed)
- Iron rods and reinforcing bars
- Wire mesh
- Steel nails
- Security and razor wire
- Wood particle boards and panels
- Wood fiber boards and panels
- Plywood boards and panels
- Wooden doors
- Furniture
- Toothpicks
- Glass and glassware
- Kitchen utensils
- Tableware
- Tiles - vitrified and ceramic
- Textiles
- Woven fabrics
- Clothes
- Plastic and rubber products, celophane wrappers
- Soap and cosmetics
- Tomatoes/tomato pastes
- Euro bond/foreign currency bond/share purchases
- Fertiliser
- Maize/corn