Nigerian President directs central bank to stop giving forex for food, fertilizer imports

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the country’s central bank to stop issuing foreign exchange for food and fertilizer imports as expanding Nigeria’s agriculture sector is a key pillar of his economic policy.

Last year, the president issued a similar order that the nominally-independent bank only partly followed.

But the recent directive will completely prohibit foreign currency for all imported food and fertilizer, the spokesman told Reuters.

Since his election in 2015, the 77-year-old leader has sought to cut foreign imports, particularly agricultural products.