Episode 35 of The Nigeria Briefing highlights aggressive monetary interventions to stabilize the FX market alongside notable shifts in corporate cost structures and maritime logistics.
To hold the naira around 1,348/$, the Central Bank of Nigeria sold $950 million to banks in the final week of October alone—part of a $1.98 billion FX intervention across the month—while simultaneously absorbing ₦2.9 trillion (~$2.15B) in open market operations. Despite these interventions, gross external reserves ended October higher at $55.22 billion.
Here are today's core developments.
The biggest and the most disastrous economic mismanagement mankind ever witnessed in the 66 years of Nigeria's independence happened between 2015 - 2023.
Tinubu played a supermajority role in making that happen. For that alone, he deserves all the fall. I don't pity him.
When I told Professor Wole Soyinka that my knee surgery cost about 39 million and that I had about 10 million to pay the hospital, he said: “Let me get to Lagos this Friday and see what I can send.”
I sent him the bank details of the hospital.
By Monday, he messaged me: “Receivng no notification from you, I asked my bank for confirmation that the money has been sent. Forwarding separately the affirmation documents from the bank in case you need to track the funds. Bank document attached in case you need to track the remittance. I just wish to ensure it's landed in the right place.”
When I reached out to the hospital, they confirmed they had received the complete money.
What could I have done without him?
There was a riot going on and Palestinians were throwing stones at the Israeli border patrol so they strapped him to the hood of the car hoping this would stop the Palestinians from throwing rocks. Badwan survived this.
Lately the stock market feels weirdly exhausting.Not because everything is crashing.Honestly I think this kind of market is mentally harder.When you are sitting on cash, you are scared of missing the next move higher.
AI stocks still dominate the conversation.Some people are convinced we are still early.Some are quietly trimming positions because valuations are getting harder to ignore.And then there are people who keep telling themselves they will buy the next dip.