…As CBN boosts forex supply with $195m***
The European Union (EU) says it will enhance Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria through forging of linkages and partnerships with business innovators.
Mr Jean-Jacques Lennon, the EU Senior Manager, made this at the ongoing Lagos International Trade Fair (LITF) in Lagos.
Lennon said that some EU initiatives were seeking to assist SMEs to access international markets and enhance their growth potential.
According to him, EU sees great prospects in Nigeria’s economy and wants to seize the business opportunities provided on the platform of the Lagos International Trade Fair (LITF) to upscale business activities for SMEs.
The EU officially got a pavilion and brought exhibitors to the fair for the first time in the 31 years of the fair.
He said Nigeria was listed as one of the 11 countries that EU, through its
SME Instrument Overseas Trade Fairs Programme, would showcase innovations and commercialise its technology.
Lennon said that the fair was identified as a veritable platform where investors and innovators from EU could synergise toward boosting economic growth.
He said that some of the technologies exhibited by nine EU innovators would improve activities in agriculture, waste management, weather forecast, renewable energy, food safety and genetic services.
Lennon urged the Federal Government to continue with the policies and reforms that would create an enabling environment to attract investments into the country.
The LITF is an annual event organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). It began on Nov. 3 and end on Nov.12.
In the meantime, the Central Bank of Nigeria has intervened in the inter-bank foreign exchange market with the injection of another $195m.
Figures released by the bank on Tuesday showed that it offered the total sum of $100m to the wholesale segment, while the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises segment received the sum of $50m.
The invisibles segment comprising tuition, medical payments and basic travel allowance received $45m.
The bank’s acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, confirmed the figures, noting that the intervention was in line with the CBN’s commitment to continue to ensure forex liquidity and meet legitimate demand.
Okorafor maintained that the CBN would continue to intervene in the nation’s forex market in order to sustain the liquidity in the market and guarantee the international value of the naira.
Meanwhile, the naira closed at 360/$1 in the BDC segment of the market on Tuesday. It, however, closed at 363/dollar at the parallel market.
Additional report from Punch