Chairman of BUA Cement Plc, Dr Abdul Samad Rabiu, says recent foreign exchange reforms by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have removed the need for companies to lobby for access to dollars.
Rabiu made this known on Monday in Abuja during a media briefing following the company’s 9th Annual General Meeting.
He hailed the current FX regime as more transparent and market-driven, contrasting it with previous policies that, according to him, artificially restricted access and compelled businesses to rely on lobbying.
“I was making a joke a few weeks ago that I’ve only seen the current CBN Governor maybe twice since his appointment. That’s because I don’t need him,” Rabiu said. “Before now, I used to go to the CBN every two weeks to lobby for FX. That was the only way to survive.”
He criticised the former system, where the official exchange rate was much lower than the black market rate, describing it as a distortion that disadvantaged many businesses.
“The official rate was N500 or N600, but no one could access it. Meanwhile, on the street, it was closer to N1,000. That was an artificial rate,” he explained.
Rabiu commended the CBN for reforms that have unified the market, saying, “Now, the rate you get is what everyone else gets. You go to the bank, and you get FX at the market rate.”
Expressing optimism about the naira’s trajectory, the BUA chairman projected that the exchange rate could stabilise around N1,200/$ in the coming months, a significant improvement from the nearly N2,000/$ levels seen earlier in the year.
He noted that the strengthening of the naira is already translating into lower prices for goods such as cement and food.
On concerns over cement pricing, Rabiu attributed previous hikes to FX volatility, high energy costs, and dependence on imported equipment. He revealed that BUA Cement had renegotiated service contracts to favour local content, helping to reduce foreign exchange exposure and cut operational costs.
