Last updated on August 11th, 2023 at 01:27 pm
Some of the African currencies that are more valuable than the Naira include the Tunisian dinar, Libyan dinar, Ghanian cedi, Moroccan dirham, and Botswana pula.
Nigeria prides itself as the economic giant of Africa, yet the value of the Naira isn’t showing positive indications as close to 50% of currencies on the continent are stronger than the Nigerian currency.
It had been like this for some years, but the decision of the new government led by President Bola Tinubu to float the naira seems to have worsened the value of the naira against other currencies.
On African soil, there are more than two dozen of currencies in Africa that are stronger than the naira. In the foreign exchange market, below African currencies are more valuable than the naira (not in ascending order):
| Currencies | Pair Against Naira |
| Tunisian dinar | TND=NGN249.05 |
| Libyan dinar | LYD=NGN160.43 |
| Ghanian cedi | GHS=NGN68.53 |
| Moroccan dirham | MAD=NGN78.71 |
| Botswana pula | BWP=NGN57.16 |
| Seychellois rupee | SCR=NGN58.00 |
| Namibian dollar | NAD=NGN51.66 |
| Eritrea nakfas | ERN=NGN51.02 |
| South African rand | ZAR=NGN40.84 |
| Egyptian pound | EGP=NGN24.90 |
| Sao Tomean dobras | STN=NGN34.19 |
| Swazi lilangeni | SZL=NGN40.96 |
| Zambian kwacha | ZMW=NGN40.54 |
| Mozambican metical | MZN=NGN12.04 |
| Lesotho loti | LSL=NGN40.95 |
| The Gambian dalasi | GMD=NGN12.74 |
| Liberian dollar | LRD=NGN4.12 |
| Cape Verdean escudo | CVE=NGN7.69 |
| Djiboutian franc | DJF=NGN4.32 |
| Kenyan shilling | KES=NGN5.36 |
| Ethiopian Birr | ETB=NGN13.95 |
| Mauritian ouguiya | MRU=NGN20.32 |
| Mauritian rupee | MUR=NGN17.03 |
| Zimbabwean dollar | ZWD=NGN2.10 |
| Algerian dinar | DZD=NGN5.67 |
In the 70s:
In 1972 1USD was just 0.658 naira at the official market rate. For 13 years, USD/NGN at the forex market remained under NGN1.
That was the time the Nigerian currency was the pride of every Nigerian as this can be seen in our timeline of the official CBN exchange rate at the forex market
For the first time since Nigeria adopted its currency, the Naira hit NGN1 and crossed NGN2 in 1986 during the regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.
Today, Nigeria and its economy are facing multi-faceted problems, though they are still being rated as the strongest economy in Africa, the country borrows money to pay its workers.
At the time of this publication, USD/NGN is NGN781.34 at the Investors’ and Exporters’ window rate. The naira is not only weak against the US Dollar, it can’t also be found on the list of global currencies for international transactions.
On the continent, the naira isn’t the weakest as there are more than 20 other African currencies that weaker than the Nigerian currency. On the continent, the naira carries some irrelevant weight against some legal tenders.
Note: Some of the currencies listed above are also battling to repress high inflation. For instance, Ghana is facing what can be described as hyperinflation and has devalued its currency several times,.
Nigeria has to Wake up and stop this mess how can our leaders allow this to happen and why can’t they stop corruption and allow things go well in this country
The Nigerian currency will continue to remain weak so long as the country remains in corruption and does not want true federalism to reign as it’s system of governance.
Truly Nigeria currency is too weak