FG Speaks on Reopening Borders as Price of Rice, Sugar, Others Crash in Market

• The federal government has given an update on consultations regarding the plan to reopen the country's land borders
• It made this known as reports indicated that the price of some commodities like rice, sugar and others have dropped
• The Nigeria Customs Service CP said that stakeholders are discussing the issues that caused the closure

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over three years of experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

The federal government has stated that it is meeting with officials of neighbouring countries to discuss the next steps and move on with consultations regarding the plan to reopen the country's land borders.

This was revealed by Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Nigeria Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja following the National Single Window Project's launch.

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He claimed he is communicating with his counterparts in the Niger and Benin republics.

Update on border closure

CG Adeniyi says that the problems that caused the borders to close are now being considered, along with measures to guarantee that similar events never happen again and that consistent progress is being made.

Nonetheless, The Cable reported that he hailed President Bola Tinubu for his efforts to safeguard Nigeria's economy, especially with the recently introduced National Single Window Project.

Adeniyi, who is a member of the Presidential Steering Committee that will pilot the implementation of the project, said:

“So we’re happy that this time we have a situation where Mr President has demonstrated commitment and a very strong will, and these are very strong, critical success factors for the implementation of any project, particularly a project like Single Window that is collaborative in nature.

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“In terms of opening the land borders, consultations are already in progress, some of them are very high level. Over the last weekend, I had an interaction with my colleagues in Benin Republic, earlier I’ve gone to our borders with Niger Republic."

Legit.ng earlier reported that Financial Derivatives Company Limited researchers have noted that several domestic commodity prices are steadily declining due to the naira's recovery in relation to the dollar and other major currencies.

As was generally anticipated, the costs of some food items have started to rise with the steady appreciation of the naira.

Managing director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, said:

“Notably, prices of some commodities like rice (50kg) decreased by 5.26 per cent to N90,000, sugar fell by 5.88 per cent to N80,000/bag, flour experienced a decline of 7.81 per cent to N59,000/bag, and noodles (carton) witnessed a significant decrease of 15.22 per cent to N7,800/carton.”

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Expert speaks on future of naira

Legit.ng reported that financial analysts have stated that it will take time for gains in foreign exchange rates to be converted into lower commodity prices.

They said this amid several efforts by Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the Nigerian Central Bank, to stabilise foreign exchange rates.

Recall that the price of goods is reported to have been consistently impacted by the devaluation of the Nigerian currency, which also played a significant role in the inflation rate, which peaked in February 2024 at 31.70%, up from 29.90% in January.

Source: Legit.ng