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•Unveils 5-point agenda to reshape global perception
From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
A public policy advocate and engineer, Abdullahi Hashim, has said that Nigeria is paying a steep financial price for allowing foreign institutions to shape global perceptions of its economy, arguing that weak communication of economic reforms is costing the country billions in borrowing costs while undermining investor confidence.
Hashim made the assertion in a policy paper titled Narrative Sovereignty, where he argued that the success of Nigeria’s economic reforms depends not only on the policies being implemented by the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), but also on how those reforms are presented to investors, international rating agencies and the global financial community.
He said international research reports and assessments often influence investor sentiment, exchange rates and sovereign bond yields before Nigerian authorities have the opportunity to explain developments from their own perspective.
According to him, this imbalance has allowed external institutions to shape the country’s economic story, sometimes to Nigeria’s disadvantage. A nation cannot be sovereign in policy and a tenant in narrative,” he stated. Hashim cited the 2023 disagreement between the CBN and global financial institution JP Morgan over the interpretation of Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves as a clear example of how competing narratives can affect market confidence.
He explained that while JP Morgan estimated Nigeria’s net reserves using its own methodology, the apex bank defended its figures based on local accounting standards and the country’s reserve structure.
Although subsequent assessments acknowledged the complexity of the issue, Hashim said financial markets had already responded to the initial narrative.
“The episode was not about numbers. It was about who gets to define the numbers,” he said.
He argued that Nigeria continues to bear what he described as a “wrong narrative price,” where genuine improvements in macroeconomic fundamentals are overshadowed by external interpretations that create uncertainty among investors and increase the country’s cost of raising capital.
To reverse the trend, Hashim proposed a five-point agenda aimed at achieving what he termed “Narrative Sovereignty.”
The recommendations include improving data transparency through regular publication of gross reserves, net reserves, encumbered assets and swap lines; adopting a locally contextualised methodology for explaining economic indicators; institutionalising regular State of the Economy briefings; prioritising Nigerian media, analysts and investors in the dissemination of economic information; and strengthening credible domestic rating agencies to complement international rating firms.
According to him, these measures would help ensure that investors receive timely, accurate and context-rich information about Nigeria’s economy rather than relying solely on external analyses.
Hashim also welcomed the recent improvement in Nigeria’s external reserves, which he noted had risen to about $52 billion, but stressed that headline figures alone were insufficient without adequate explanation of their composition.
“The emphasis is no longer on how large the reserves appear, but on how much of those reserves is actually available when needed,” he said.
He maintained that reserve reporting should conform to global best-practice standards while providing sufficient detail for independent verification.
According to him, greater transparency would strengthen, rather than weaken, Nigeria’s credibility in the eyes of investors, multilateral institutions and foreign central banks.
Hashim further argued that professionalism and accuracy in economic reporting must precede attempts to shape public narratives, insisting that credible communication is now a critical pillar of economic management.
He described narrative sovereignty as an essential component of monetary policy and national economic strategy rather than merely a public relations exercise.
“The reforms are happening. The data is improving. Now, let us match good governance with good communication. Let us write our own realities and tell our own story.
“Because if we do not define Nigeria, someone else will. And we will pay for their definition,” he added.
