Chairman of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Atedo Peterside, has said that the heightened state of uncertainty in the Nigerian economy is scaring off investors, as the situation confronts them with questions that they cannot answer or successfully explain.
He gave this insight while opening the bank’s investors’ conference that hosted the country’s business community, including the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Debt Management Office (DMO) and rge capital market stakeholders.
At the forum titled “Unlocking Nigeria’s Potential…Growth Through Diversification,” he noted that the country in recent times has moved from the uncertainty of economic direction to the current dilemma of exchange rate policy.
“The pursuit of scarce foreign exchange for today’s needs has understandably become the main game in town and this has exacerbated the pressure on the reserves and the naira, as everybody wants to take foreign exchange out and nobody wants to bring it in,” he said.
Peterside stated that with efforts at economic diversification still relatively at early stage, coupled with exchange rate uncertainties, policy making and private sector growth are now bedevilled with new challenges. According to him, the only way out is to rise above the current distractions through commitment and evaluation of Nigeria’s long-term potential in key sectors like infrastructure, power and gas, consumer goods, and agriculture, among others.