‘Naira trading at 500 to dollar was scary’

The Managing Director, Lacasera Company, Mr. Roland Ebelt, said that at the deepest point of the naira depreciation when the currency traded at 500 to a dollar, local beverage firms were very concerned about losing the market.


At that point, he acknowledged that the purchasing power of the average Nigerian had been eroded, adding that there were concerns that this would affect the sale of beverages.

Ebelt said, “There was real concern. There was real fear that we will have to increase the prices by so many margins that the customers would no longer buy our products and these products are bought by virtually everybody in Nigeria, just like water.

“So that was the fear that the market that had been growing so nicely all these years would suddenly cease to exist.”