43 GOODS ON THE CBN LIST ARE PROHIBITED FROM THE NIGERIAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET

The 43 non-eligible commodities that were banned from the FX market at the direction of CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele are still prohibited, according to the Central Bank.

The purchases cannot be funded through the I & E window. Here is the list.

This is in accordance with the information provided in the central bank's Q&A document outlining the recent operational changes to the forex market.

This demonstrates that the central bank will keep enforcing the 43-item ban, indicating that the government would keep using import substitution to safeguard the local economy.

The Nigerian central bank released a list of imported products and services that will not be accepted as payment for foreign exchange in the country's foreign exchange market in a circular dated June 23, 2015.

The list was published “in the continuing effort to sustain the stability of the foreign exchange market and ensure the efficient utllization of foreign exchange and the derivation of optimal benefits from goods and services imported into the country,” the central bank said in a statement at the time.

It went on to say that in order to promote domestic manufacturing of these goods, importers of specific goods and services have to be denied access to foreign currency at Nigeria's foreign exchange markets.

In exchange, the central bank anticipated that the policy would aid in the preservation of foreign reserves, make it easier to revive domestic industry, and increase job creation.

When the list was first made public, it had 41 items; however, the central bank added two more.

The debate about whether or not this policy has been successful has persisted for eight years. We present a list of the 43 items that are unreadable for accessing Nigeria's forex market in response to requests from our readers.

1. Rice

2. Cement

3. Margarine

4. Palm Kernel/Palm oil products/vegetable oils

5. Meat and Processed Meat Products

6. Vegetables and Processed Vegetable Products

7. Poultry – chicken, eggs, Turkey

8. Private Airplanes/Jets

9. Indian Incense

10. Tinned Fish In sauce (Gelsha)/Sardines

11. Cold Rolled Steel Sheets

12. Galvanized Steel Sheets

13. Roofing Sheets

14. Wheelbarrows

15. Head Pans

16. Metal Boxes and Containers

17. Enamelware

18. Steel Drums

19. Steel Pipes

20. Wire Rods (deformed and not deformed)

21. Iron Rods and ReInforcina Bars

22. Wire Mesh

23. Steel Nalls

24. Security and Razor Wire

25. Wood Particle Boards and Panels

26. Wood Fiber Boards and Panels

27. Plywood Boards and Panels

28. Wooden Doors

29. Furniture

30. Toothpicks

31. Glass and Glassware

32. Kitchen Utensils

33. Tableware

34. Tiles – vitrified and ceramic

35. Textiles

36. Woven Fabrics

37. Clothes

38. Plastic and Rubber Products, Cellophane Wrappers

39. Soap and cosmetics

40. Tomatoes/Tomato Pastes

41. Euro bond/Foreign Currency Bond/Share Purchases

42. Milk

43. Maize

Although there are 43 items on the list, each one contains a number of additional sub-items that were recorded by Nigerian Customs using their import codes list.

The things on the list above are not always prohibited from importation. They are only forbidden from using the official investor and exporter window to access foreign exchange.