A friend asked a question today: "How come #Kenya is able to manage its FX situation much better than us?"
He was in Nairobi in 2018, and noted that their system works quite well. The Kenyan Shilling has hovered around KSh103 to US$1 for the past 5 years or so.
He was in Nairobi in 2018, and noted that their system works quite well. The Kenyan Shilling has hovered around KSh103 to US$1 for the past 5 years or so.
The answer is quite simple: They don’t have oil to wreak havoc on their economy.
As @DoubleEph says, #Nigeria has signed a blood oath with oil. We get blood money but the downside is never knowing peace
You see, the “free oil” has made us an abnormal economy.
As @DoubleEph says, #Nigeria has signed a blood oath with oil. We get blood money but the downside is never knowing peace
You see, the “free oil” has made us an abnormal economy.
#Kenya relies on tourism for jobs, tax revenues & FX.
Do you know how hard it is to make a dollar in tourism?
Nairobi is competing for the same tourist $$$ as Rome, Paris and Dubai, so they have to up their game.
Abuja just sits down and oil credits dollars into the account.
Do you know how hard it is to make a dollar in tourism?
Nairobi is competing for the same tourist $$$ as Rome, Paris and Dubai, so they have to up their game.
Abuja just sits down and oil credits dollars into the account.
And it shows.
Each time I’ve been to Nairobi, I’m always intrigued by the number of Europeans and Americans I see at their airport.
The majority of foreigners in #Nigeria are in the oil sector or in construction. Unless you love extreme stuff Nigeria is no tourist destination.
Each time I’ve been to Nairobi, I’m always intrigued by the number of Europeans and Americans I see at their airport.
The majority of foreigners in #Nigeria are in the oil sector or in construction. Unless you love extreme stuff Nigeria is no tourist destination.
Here is the thing: oil is not a high employing sector. It employs a small sliver of people and pays them well and that’s it.
Things like tourism, on the other hand, have a multiplier effect on jobs. Tourism employs so many people, even to remote villages, once you get it right.
Things like tourism, on the other hand, have a multiplier effect on jobs. Tourism employs so many people, even to remote villages, once you get it right.
Imagine crowds of people wanting to go to Yankari to see the beautiful wildlife and landscape.
Then they read that a lawmaker was killed, in his own home, and his wives and kid were taken away.
Will you want to go to such a country?
Then they read that a lawmaker was killed, in his own home, and his wives and kid were taken away.
Will you want to go to such a country?
We don’t see the dead bodies that @Oddy4real washes or the cashier work that @DoubleEph is doing in Primark or the bouncer work that @TexTheLaw is doing to get the forex they remit. We don't see the oil.
So we refuse to adjust even when our earnings can’t support our lifestyles.
So we refuse to adjust even when our earnings can’t support our lifestyles.
