Low Naira exchange rate complicates life for Nigerians in Ivory Coast for AFCON

FIJ

Before leaving Nigeria for Ivory Coast for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament on January 15, Toyosi Afolayan, a sports journalist at Bounce Networks, was excited about the thought of going to cover the tournament.

Now, the exchange rate is stealing his joy. “It has been a sad tale, to be honest. If not for passion and because it is my job, I would have opted out,” Toyosi told FIJ in an interview.

“Before leaving Nigeria, I had thought the currencies would be on a par with each other, but to my surprise, they are not.”

When he first arrived in Ivory Coast, he exchanged N20,000 for 9,500 CFA. This morning, Toyosi exchanged N20,000 naira for 9,150 CFA, signifying that the naira took a 3.8 percent nosedive during the 12 days that he had been there.

Although this figure may seem insignificant, the impact this has on Toyosi and other Nigerians who travelled to Ivory Coast for the football tournament is distressing.

The Nigerian currency, Naira, has been struggling to stay afloat in the foreign exchange market. Almost every day, Nigerians wake up to the news of the naira falling against the dollar, but the dollar is not the only currency the naira is crashing against.