Stakeholders in aviation have thrown their weight behind the federal government’s unification of the forex on the premise that the decision will help improve the sector and erase the undue advantage few entrepreneurs have over others.
They also stated that through the development the remittances and foreign direct investments, particularly by foreign airlines, will experience an appreciable surge once the government sustains consistency in the unification policy.
While expressing optimism that the foreign exchange rate unification will positively impact the country’s growth, many of the stakeholders, though acknowledged that the implementation of the new policy may experience difficulty at the beginning, yet agreed that the government is on the right track with the decision.
Commenting on the policy, the Chairman of Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) PLC, Dr Taiwo Afolabi said that private investors would benefit more from the forex unification policy.
Afolabi, who also declared that apart from Nigeria, nowhere else in the world are there two exchange rates in the market, lamented how the non-unification of the forex had given the to some business organisations undue advantage.
While insisting that the present high forex would not affect businesses, but rather bring about reduction in customs duties, paid by private investors, Afolabihoweve assured that gradually all the challenges associated with the current decision of the government would ease, while normalcy would return to the economy.
Once it is unified, you will find out that for us to go to foreign countries to buy our equipment, it will give us a kind of reduction in duties and the cost of whatever that we are going to buy will reduce. The opportunity to go to the same common market with others will also be there. The issue of N460 or N700 to a dollar that some people are taking undue advantage of will no longer be there.
“So, it gives us joy with what the new government is doing to support us and all investors. I believe this will allow other investors to come in as soon as things are changing and getting better.
