The sum of $533.48m has been released for foreign education by banks through the Central Bank of Nigeria.
According to a figure which was obtained from the latest statistical bulletin published by the apex bank, this is a cumulative addition of the amounts released between October 2022 and March 2023.
Considering the recent unification of the exchange rate by the CBN, experts however predict that the amount for the second quarter of 2023 sparring between April to June 2023 might be higher.
Prior to the unification, there had been a huge gap between the exchange rate at the black market and the official rate.
Meanwhile, the relocation of Nigerians to other countries for greener pastures, well known as ‘japa’ has also continued to put huge pressure on the naira as migrating students have been forced to source dollars from Bureau De Change operators owing to delays by banks to process respective Form A.
The CBN data revealed that the sum of $96.19m was released in October 2022. There was an increase in November 2022 when a total of $125.29m was released for the same purpose.
The CBN also noted that a sum of $93.12m was released, in December 2022. Further breakdown revealed that in January 2023, the sum of $91.45m was released for educational purposes.
There was a slight decrease in amount as only $74.03M was released in February 2023. There was a slight decrease from that in March 2023 as the CBN revealed that only $53.40M was released.
Meanwhile, that Nigerians have continued to troop out in their numbers in pursuit of foreign academic qualifications, The Punch reports.
Recent data released by the Home Office of the United Kingdom revealed that the number of study visas released to Nigerians increased by 222.8 per cent, with 65,929 issued as of June 2022 as against 20,427 during the same period in 2021.
