The coronavirus pandemic has deeply impacted the situation in the world – especially the economic one. A lot of people were left jobless, markets crashed and in some cases, a deep economic crisis in various countries only exacerbated.
Nigeria was one of the most affected countries in Africa. To date, the country has over 65,000 cases and 1000 deaths. The President stressed that it was highly undesirable that the number of people infected with the virus in Nigeria to increase again because the country’s economy was “too fragile to withstand another strict isolation”.
During the first wave of the pandemic earlier this year, parts of Nigeria were completely closed for about five weeks, which had a negative impact on Africa’s leading economy.
Nigerian lenders to drop minimum capital buffer If the economy will continue to shrink this year, Nigerian lenders will drop minimum capital buffers, which are required by regulators. This was voiced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which conducted stress tests.
The tests noted that a 3.5% reduction in GDP in the third quarter may lead to a ratio dropping from 15% to 11.2%.
It should be said that when we are talking about Nigeria, the country has made a massive leap in the economy. Even though it was hampered by the virus the state still remains the leader. Trading, especially Forex has become a very popular activity. A lot of people are slowly learning how to trade Forex in Nigeria and what advantages this industry holds. The volumes of FX trade in the country rises periodically. It is the highest on the continent by far, no other country comes closer so far. At the same time, the impact of FX trading opportunities during a financial crisis was very visible. It helped multiple people overcome financial issues and while a lot of citizens were left jobless, they turned to Forex trading to earn additional money.
According to the central bank the test was carried out amid a background of sharp oil price falls and a decline in government revenue. It is possible to contain a GDP decrease through fiscal and monetary interventions.
Economic problems In the second quarter of 2020, Africa’s biggest economy shrank by 6.1% in the second quarter, amid the pandemic restrictions. Businesses were shut down and what’s more, the difficult political landscape in the country is also having its toll.
Weak lending is also a problem. Nigerian banks that have international operations are required to have a minimum capital ratio of 15%. The ones with domestic businesses – 10%.
The central bank has urged lenders to restructure 65% of the industry’s loans.
What are the additional factors besides the coronavirus in Nigeria? As we have mentioned at the beginning of the article, there have been more than 65,000 cases. However, the coronavirus is not the only problem, as tensions grow.
Thirty people have been injured in an armed attack on demonstrators during ongoing protests in Nigeria against the Police Anti-Robbery Special Squad (SARS) in October.
It was declared that the fire on protesters in Lagos state was opened on the night of October 21. All the victims were hospitalized, some of them in serious condition.
One of the protesters, Glory Ufoma, declared that street lights were turned off during the protest, and then a group of armed men opened fire on the protesters.
Seven people were killed in the attack.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian media reported that the attack was carried out by police and military.
Health workers’ death This number of deaths from COVID-19 health workers is reported to account for all reported cases in 36 Nigerian states over the past eight months. A total of 1,031 medics contracted the new type of coronavirus in Nigeria.
Unfortunately, the medical system is overloaded due to the pandemic due to the unpreparedness of emergency services, shortages of workers, infrastructure, and medicines, including personal protective equipment.
More than 1.5 million cases of a new type of coronavirus had been reported in Africa. The most affected by the pandemic are South Africa, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Algeria, Ghana, and Kenya.
– Leadership