President Buhari moves to block food imports

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to block food importers’ requests for foreign currency in a bid to boost local agriculture.

He said the country’s foreign reserve should be conserved and used strictly for diversifying the economy not “encouraging more dependence on foreign food import bills.”

Nigeria is Africa’s biggest economy but relies on food imports to feed its nearly 200 million inhabitants.

President Buhari, who won an election earlier this year for a second term, campaigned on the promise of boosting the local economy, which went into a recession in his first term.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer and the tax and export revenue from the oil industry are vital to its economy, but most of that is spent on importing food, basic items and heavy machinery.