Currency change: a traveller’s dilemma
Adéṣẹ́gun Ọṣìbánjọ
For many African travellers, embarking on a journey throughout the continent is an thrilling enterprise till they face the irritating actuality of a number of foreign money conversions.
Take, for instance, 2AO, a Lagos-based vacationer travelling to Nairobi. Before departure, 2AO should change Naira for U.S. {dollars} in Lagos after which convert the {dollars} to Kenyan Shillings upon arrival. On the return journey, the method repeats, including pointless {financial} pressure and inconvenience.
These inefficiencies don’t merely create inconvenience, they reinforce Africa’s dependence on foreign currency, such because the U.S. greenback and the Euro. Every transaction that requires conversion into {dollars} strengthens exterior economies on the expense of African currencies, decreasing their world worth and making Africa’s {financial} system much less aggressive.
The introduction of a single African foreign money would remove these limitations, making journey inside Africa way more seamless and inspiring African residents to discover their continent with out pointless {financial} burdens.
Trade and SMEs: Breaking Free from Foreign Intermediaries
Beyond tourism, the necessity for a unified foreign money is felt deeply in commerce. African companies proceed to depend on pricey international {financial} intermediaries for transactions throughout borders. Nigerian merchants exporting items throughout Africa should navigate Form M or import license processing, worldwide funds transfers, and letters of credit score are all dealt with via European and American banks.
This system creates main {financial} inefficiencies, together with: High transaction prices, Slow processing instances, and Exchange price dangers.
For Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs), this weakens competitiveness, making cross-border commerce unnecessarily complicated and costly. A single African foreign money would permit companies to conduct transactions immediately, decreasing prices and simplifying processes, boosting intra-African commerce whereas growing African {financial} autonomy.
Additionally, African nations undergo from change price volatility, which impacts costs and complicates commerce agreements.
Removing dependency on exterior currencies and permitting companies to transact immediately in a unified African foreign money would result in larger value stability, {economic} progress, and elevated investor confidence in African markets.
Championing Intra-African Trade
Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, has been a steadfast advocate for Africa’s {economic} integration, notably via the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Alongside fellow African Ministers of Trade, she has labored tirelessly to remove commerce limitations and place Nigeria as a driving pressure in intra-African commerce.
A serious problem in AfCFTA’s implementation is the absence of a single African foreign money, which complicates transactions throughout borders. Currently, companies should navigate a number of change charges, growing transaction prices and limiting the fluidity of commerce. This reliance on exterior {financial} establishments for foreign money conversions weakens Africa’s {economic} sovereignty, making commerce throughout the continent dearer and fewer aggressive.
Dr. Oduwole has burdened {that a} unified foreign money can be a transformative step in making a seamless commerce ecosystem. Without it, African companies face delays, {financial} losses as a result of fluctuating change charges, and difficulties in establishing predictable pricing fashions. The lack of a single foreign money additionally hampers the effectiveness of the Pan-African Payment & Settlement System (PAPSS), an initiative designed to facilitate swift and cost-efficient funds throughout African nations.
Despite these challenges, Nigeria stays dedicated to AfCFTA’s targets, working to boost regional fee methods and strengthen commerce insurance policies that minimise foreign money volatility. Through initiatives such because the Guided Trade Initiative, Nigeria continues to pursue sustainable options that can scale back {financial} limitations and promote a very built-in African market.
Dr. Oduwole’s imaginative and prescient stays clear: an Africa the place companies thrive with out {financial} constraints, and the place African nations, not exterior forces, drive commerce.
Overcoming Divide-and-Conquer Strategies
Despite the clear advantages of a unified African foreign money, vital obstacles stay. The West’s centuries-old ‘Divide-and-Conquer Strategy’, born from the 1884 Berlin Conference, nonetheless performs a job in maintaining Africa economically fragmented.
For many years, African leaders have been incentivised to keep up {economic} division, not as a result of it advantages their residents, however as a result of it serves the pursuits of Western economies. By maintaining African economies disconnected and depending on international {financial} constructions, exterior entities preserve management over Africa’s pure assets, commerce routes, and wealth creation.
The carrot-and-stick strategy stays a key software of management:
African leaders who preserve division are sometimes rewarded via {financial} and political assist.
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Leaders who push for unity and self-sufficiency continuously face opposition, {economic} sanctions, or political instability engineered from overseas.
A single African foreign money disrupts this technique, making it more durable for international {financial} establishments to dictate the {economic} trajectory of African nations.
This is why opposition usually emerges from inside African governments themselves—leaders afraid of shedding international {financial} backing continuously block initiatives that promote unity.
This marks the second merchandise on the African Citizens’ Expectations Agenda of the Africa Woke Citizens Platform (AWCP) despatched to the African Union Commission (AUC), pushing for public dialogue and transparency on Africa’s {financial} independence. The individuals of Africa are waking as much as the necessity for true {economic} sovereignty, and the demand for motion is rising louder.
Breaking the Barrier
To stand up to exterior pressures, Africa’s main economies should rise as continental Hegemons, fostering unity, deepening cooperation, and championing {financial} sovereignty.
Nations similar to Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt should assume accountability for main Africa’s {financial} transformation. They should: Strengthen the African Union’s institutional framework, Develop {economic} synergies throughout borders, Promote political and {economic} stability throughout the continent.
By fostering collaboration, these nations can construct a powerful African {economic} bloc, decreasing dependency on Western {financial} establishments. Their management should transcend symbolic gestures—it should translate into concrete coverage actions, together with: Establishing a unified {financial} system, Enhancing intra-African commerce agreements, Facilitating funding alternatives throughout borders.
Without decisive management, Africa dangers remaining fragmented, unable to totally capitalize on its considerable assets, entrepreneurial dynamism, and industrial potential. A robust African-led {financial} framework would give Africa larger leverage in world negotiations, securing {economic} sovereignty and eradicating exterior {economic} management.
Uniting Africa Towards Financial Independence
The institution of a single African foreign money is each bold and essential, one that will take away limitations, empower African companies, and enhance tourism.
As Dr. Oduwole and different champions of African commerce proceed their advocacy, momentum is constructing towards an Africa that controls its {economic} future.
This shift goes past {financial} advantages; it represents Africa’s rightful place within the world financial system. No longer ought to African nations be pressured into fragmented, inefficient commerce methods that serve international pursuits. No longer ought to African residents undergo {financial} hardships from a system designed to restrict their {economic} freedom.
The period of counting on international establishments to dictate Africa’s future should come to an finish. The single African foreign money may very well be the turning level, a chance to unify Africa financially, create stronger commerce hyperlinks, and set up a self-sustaining African financial system for generations to come back.
God bless Africa!!!
Adéṣẹ́gun Olútáyọ̀ Adéolú Ọṣìbánjọ is the convener, Africa Woke Citizens Platform (AWCP).
