The report, titled “Is Africa’s Eagle Stuck or Soaring Back to Life?”, warned that the persistent depreciation of the nairahas rendered the ₦1,000 note practically obsolete in terms of purchasing power.
“To make the naira portable again, Nigeria can introduce higher-value bills, e.g., ₦10,000 or ₦20,000 notes, or redenominate the currency entirely,” the report said.
Analysts at Quartus Economics revealed that a ₦5,000 note that was proposed in 2012 would now be equivalent to ₦50,000 today, reflecting a 94% decline in the naira’s real value over the last two decades.
The firm dismissed fears that issuing higher-value notes would worsen inflation, calling such claims a “myth unsupported by evidence.” It noted that inflation is driven by cost-push and demand-pull factors, not currency denomination.
“When the ₦1,000 note was introduced in 2005, it was worth nearly $7 at the official exchange rate. Today, it is worth less than 60 US cents,” the report highlighted.
Quartus Economics said that the depreciation has made everyday cash transactions burdensome, especially in the informal economy, where most Nigerians still rely on physical money.
It also pointed out that the cost of printing, transporting, and securing lower-value notes has become unsustainable for the CBN, suggesting that higher-value notes or redenomination could cut costs and improve efficiency.
The report cited the CBN’s abandoned 2012 plan to introduce a ₦5,000 note under then-Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, saying the rationale for such policy remains even stronger today given the steep decline in naira value.
“The proposed measure is not about printing more money,” it added, “but about modernising the naira’s denominations to match today’s economic realities.”
Quartus Economics used the price of imported rice and a domestic flight ticket as benchmarks for its analysis, showing that rice rose from ₦150 per kilogram in 2005 to ₦2,500 today, while flight costs climbed from ₦12,000 to over ₦150,000 — a clear sign of the currency’s lost purchasing power.
