LCCI Predicts Tough Business Environment in Nigeria for 2016

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has expressed concern about the current state of the Nigerian economy and the consequences of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s foreign exchange policy over the last few months.

In an appraisal conducted by the LCCI of the Nigerian economy in 2015 last week, it concluded that private operators in many sectors recorded losses of over N1.5trn last year as a result of scarcity of forex, especially during the last six months.

The Chamber, in a statement, bemoaned the unfriendly business environment in the country in 2015, saying it undermined the capacity of investors to maximise abundant business opportunities, in Africa’s largest economy.

“With drastic fall in oil price, heavy fuel subsidy bill, nearing N1trn in 2015, wide spread insolvency among state governments across the country, increasing sovereign debt and debt service obligation of N1.3t in 2016, the financial crisis may linger in the new year,” it predicted.

The statement or economic review and projection into the year 2016 signed by the Director General of the chamber, Mr. Muda Yusuf, described the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) forex restrictions policy in 2015 as one of the “costliest” policies in Nigeria in the recent years.

On business environment in 2015, Yusuf expressed concern over the deplorable state of roads leading to the Lagos ports (Apapa and Tincan Island), saying, “these ports account for over 60 percent of the cargo coming into the country and an estimated 70 percent of customs’ revenue. The poor state of the roads has multifarious effects on the private sector, economy and the citizenry.”