FOREX 101- 2

In the first part of this series, I pointed to ignorant Nigerian technocrats that what you produce that foreigners need constitute your forex earnings. I used an example of the pre Nigeria state of Ijesa where kolanuts and intricately woven mats were major forex earners as shown in the national oriki of the Ijesas. I hope that issue is now cleared to Nigerian technocrats and eggheads who are essentially dunces relative to the intellectuals of neighbouring nations.


In the second part of the series of Forex 101, I will use a modern nation as an example. Russia. Russia is a nation of around 140 million people, give or take a few millions. They export over ten million barrels of oil equivalents a day which forms around 50 percent of government revenue in Russia. Nigeria is 180 million that used to export around 2 million barrels of oil per day, forming over 80 percent of government revenue. The question is 'which of them earns the higher forex?'. Both are in recession, government recession, because they depend on oil for government revenue, Russia by 50 percent and Nigeria more or less entirely. If the two countries relied on taxes across all sectors for revenue, the story would have been different as revenue loss would have been marginal. Memorise that.


Russia


Oil is a major forex earner for Russia but I will not say it is the highest because Russia tops the global military hardware export market just like Germany tops the automobile export market globally. So I do not know which of arms and oil earns Russia more forex. Then Russia still export many other things, their people send forex home which adds to the mix and etc.


Nigeria

Nigeria exports oil, less than a fifth of Russia's exports but Nigeria has other exports, for example Nigeria is one of the six cocoa producers that controls all cocoa produced globally, Then coffee, ginger and etc. Indonesians come to Nigeria to buy kolanuts of which over 90 percent is from Nigeria, then bitter kola and many other products, Nollywood is a forex earner too. Then we have far more Nigerians in the diaspora than Russians. They all send forex home. Millions of them all over the world in North America, Europe, West Africa, South America and etc. There is tourism inflow into Nigeria for theology.


So I have given you things to work with as a teacher. Which of the two countries do you think earns more forex?


I have to remind you, keep it in mind that these things I am putting out for free are more than PhDs and even Nobel laureattes. They are products of a first class brain. Not from a run off the mill academic, a bean counter.


So, go and work on the assignment.