Nigeria’s Woes Deepen as Central Bank Missteps on Currency
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As if the collapse in crude prices, forthcoming elections and an Islamist insurgency weren’t enough, investors in Nigeria have another matter to worry about: deciding whether the new central banker is his own man.
Godwin Emefiele, appointed in June after President Goodluck Jonathan suspended predecessor Lamido Sanusi almost a year ago, has focused on stemming currency declines that could damage the government of Africa’s biggest oil producer and economy ahead of Feb. 14 elections. Emefiele is “putting off painful and inevitable adjustments” in the exchange rate until after the vote, Bank of America Corp. economists Oyin Anubi and Turker Hamzaoglu in London wrote in a Jan. 21 report.