NAIRA REDESIGN AND SWAPPING OF OLD TO NEW NOTES: REMEMBERING PERSONS-WITH-DISABILITIES

 

The redesigned N500 Naira Note

Please click link to our radio. https://scoremedia22.mixlr.com/recordings/2015851

It is no longer news in Nigeria that the Central Bank of Nigeria, under the leadership of Godwin Emefiele, recently redesigned three denominations of the Naira banknotes (N200, N500 and N1000) out of the 8 Naira banknotes (N5, N10, N20, N50 and N100) that serve as Nigeria’s legal tender.

About four years before the recent Naira Notes redesign, the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had enacted the “Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018”, which the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari signed into law. This law made provision for full integration of Persons-With-Disabilities (PWDs), in Nigeria. Many of the PWDs, their parents, relations and numerous others that have interest in seeing the PWDs realize their God given talents, and through this development contribute significantly to Nigeria’s growth and sustainable development, had profoundly given huge sigh of relieve at the emergence of this law. In their calculation, most probably, inclusion in Nigeria, of PWDs will no longer be a challenge.

NAIRA REDESIGN AND CURRENCY SWAP: THE VOICES OF REALITY COMING FROM THE FIELD

Recently, October 26, 2022 to be précised the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Godwin Emefiele, announced that new Naira notes will be introduced to replace old Naira denominations of  N200, N500 and N1000. Following this development, the President of Nigeria Mohammadu Buhari, on November, 23, 2022, launched the new Naira notes of  N200, N500 and N1000. 

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the currency redesign exercise was done to address the issues and challenges associated with individuals who have made currency fraud their major means of income and source of livelihood. The activities of those nefarious individuals and groups include but not limited to hoarding of the currencies, leading to shortage of clean and fit banknotes and increase in the rate of counterfeiting in the country. Thus the benefits of the new Naira redesign, going by the promises of the CBN, include checking the rate of counterfeiting, strengthening the economy, reducing the expenditure on management, promotion of financial inclusion and enhancement of the CBN’s visibility of the money supply.

NAIRA REDESIGN: SOME QUESTIONS THE MSMEs RAISED

 Report by Chinazaekpere Nnabugwu

Some of the previous denominations of the Naira Notes and Coins

The central bank of Nigeria (CBN), which some people will rather call the Apex bank, and others the bankers bank is vested with the responsibility to issue and manage the legal tender currency in Nigeria. The legal tender in Nigeria is comprised of the Naira, Kobo and eNaira. Furtherance to the fulfilment of this part of CBN's responsibility, the bank recently (late 2022) came out with a policy to redesign three out of the 8 currency denominations of the country's legal tender banknotes. The affected notes are the:

GIZ PROJECTS IN NIGERIA: COMMITMENT OF MORE NIGERIANS REQUIRED FOR MAXIMUM BENEFIT TO ACCRUE FROM THE OPPORTUNITIES

 

Wisdom: A participant of the BEE Awareness Workshop, 

and one of the emerging but leading tailors in Nigeria. 

He is a member of the leather and Apparels Sector

In a previous publication on this platform, I made reference to Business Enabling Environment (BEE) awareness workshops, yours truly facilitated in a European Union (EU) funded but German Development Agency (GIZ) implemented Project: Nigerian Competitive Project (NICOP). As clearly pointed out in the said publication, the beneficiaries are members of the Value Chain (VC) Associations that NICOP in Plateau state covered. The VC Associations are the:

ENHANCING INCOME GENERATING CAPACITY OF MSMEs THROUGH VALUE CHAIN ACTIVITIES, TO INCREASE NIGERIA’S COMPETITIVENESS IN THE ECOWAS REGION

 

Late 2021, I facilitated a Business Enabling Environment (BEE) awareness workshops held for Value Chain (VC) Associations, under the Nigerian Competitive Project (NICOP). Representatives of the three NICOP VC Associations covered by the NICOP were in attendance at the events. The three VC Associations: National Tomato Producers Association of Nigeria (NATPAN), Plateau Leather and Apparels Sector Manufacturers Association (PLASMA) and the Ginger Farmers Association were in attendance, at the different days allotted to each VC Association, and finally on the day selected for all the VC Associations to assemble as one body for a workshop.

It will interest the reader to note that the core objective of the workshops, like many others, organized at intervals for either the business support groups or business operators themselves by the German Development Agency (GIZ), leading International Development Organization, operating in Nigeria, is to improve the employment and income situation of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), in Nigeria. This particular GIZ programme, and series of others, in Nigeria is conducted under the Pro-Poor Growth and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria, also known as Sustainable Economic Development In Nigeria (SEDIN).

The NICOP event, as a component of SEDIN, was funded by the European Union (EU), implemented in Nigeria by the GIZ. The programme sort to strengthen the competitiveness of the MSMEs, in the selected VC areas: Tomato/chili, ginger, leather and garment, as well as promote trade and export of Nigeria in the ECOWAS region. On the strength of this, yours truly through the workshops sort to enhance the operational capacity of the value chain associations, whose representatives attended the workshop, participated actively and promised to use the lessons learnt. 2023 is a good time for this platform….. to commence visitation of the Groups to assess their performance, and we will also be updating you on this and numerous other activities.

DON'T MAKE THIS A CHANCE EVENT, IT IS NOT

 

Visit this earth wonder at Jos Museum in Plateau State

How often do you climb 100 nature erected, and divinely constructed steps (staircase), to behold a nature-made city? 

ALIGNING CONSCIOUSLY WITH BUSINESS GOALS WILL ENHANCE THE CAPACITY OF MSMEs TO DELIVER ON THEIR MANDATES

One of Nigeria's sumptuous delicacies.

MSMEs take note. Set your goals  

Let me start this piece, notifying my esteemed reader, that goals, which stand for what the MSMEs (comprising the individual entrepreneurs and the firm or enterprise), strive to achieve, the reason for going into business. In a nutshell, goals are what the MSMEs target to achieve in their bid to obtain the best possible result from converting inputs into more valuable end products and services, or useful outputs/results. The usefulness, particularly, quality or value of the end products and services, is determined by the consumer, who among other things, takes into consideration, the extent the goods and services will meet the need, or satisfy the desire that prompted the consumer going for the said goods and or services. Avoidance of waste and cost reduction, as production principles, are usually among the major factors that are taken into cognizance when determining effectiveness or otherwise, of the conversion process, leading to the production of the goods or services.