ENCOURAGE EXPORTS TO ADDRESS THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE ISSUE, OBASEKI ADVISES FG.

The foreign exchange market is an international, decentralized, over-the-counter platform where currencies can be traded. The foreign exchange rates for each currency are set by this market. It covers every facet of purchasing, selling, and converting currencies at established or current rates. The bigger international banks are the primary players in this industry. With the exception of weekends, financial hubs all over the world serve as anchors for trading between a variety of different types of buyers and sellers. Because currencies are constantly exchanged in pairs, the market price of one currency established when paid for with another establishes a currency's relative worth rather than its absolute value.

According to Godwin Obaseki, the governor of Edo State, the federal government may address the current foreign exchange problem by implementing fiscal policies that incentivize manufacturers to increase local output and obtain loans in order to increase exports of goods created in Nigeria.

This was said by Obaseki during a courtesy visit to Government House in Benin City with Francis Meshioye, the National President of the Manufacturers' Association of Nigeria, and other executives.

The governor stated that the manufacturers' association was essential to the nation's economic survival and pointed out that Edo State was using its distinct advantage—the availability of raw resources for manufacturing and production—to propel economic growth.

“Nigeria has continued to rely on imported goods and services that they do not produce in the last 40 years,” he said. We no longer have foreign exchange, so we are now forced to consume the goods that we produce domestically. As a country, we don't export any produced items, but MAN can help by focusing the economy on manufacturing.

“We must foster an atmosphere that will allow the association to flourish and abandon the ideas that the government should not compete with the private sector or those who provide services to us, as this influences government policy and the government views these individuals as criminals while viewing those who inflate the budget as nationalists.”

“We have come out with strong environmental policies to re-grow the forest and wood industry, ensuring that forest guards are re-introduced to police the forest and stop illegal logging, and have created encouraging policies for people who want to go into timber plantation,” stated Obaseki in reference to efforts to increase production activities in the State.

The governor stated that Edo State has the largest oil palm development program in Africa and that the state provided seven investors with 70,000 hectares of land to cultivate oil palm through the ESOPP Program.

In Edo State, we anticipated this for a long time and responded with courage. One of the main actions we took was to restructure our educational system, especially the foundational education, to make sure that the next generation of residents is well-educated. We envision Nigeria providing the highest caliber labor in the coming decades

The governor's efforts to improve Edo's economy and position the state as a top investment destination for the private sector were earlier praised by the president of MAN.

Since the Midwest is a center for industrial activity, working with the government to implement policies and programs that would accelerate industrial growth is essential to reviving Edo State's manufacturing sector.

“We are happy with the development in promoting the inflow of capital into Edo via the yearly Alaghodaro, which gave rise to the Duport Refinery, Green Hill Ethanol Plant, Ossiomo Power, and Edo Production hub, among other manufacturing collaborations between the public and private sectors,” he said.