Forex crisis: Uncertain fate for 67,516 Nigerian students abroad

By Tumininu Ojelabi Hassan

The implementation of economic reforms and changes to the foreign exchange market has dashed the hopes of many Nigerians students studying abroad as outrageously high exchange rate hinders payment of their tuition fees.

On the President’s instruction, the Central Bank of Nigeria effected changes in the foreign exchange market, which allowed market forces determine the exchange rate and this consequently led to the devaluation of naira.

Since the unification of the multiple exchange rates, the naira fell from N471/dollar to N767/dollar and N589.4/pound to N938.81/pound which implies that Nigerians studying abroad have to pay more than the usual amount to access forex for the payment of tuition fee.

For instance, Nigerian students studying in the United Kingdom (UK) are currently facing challenges with regard to payment of tuition fees after the equivalent of their tuition fees in naira soared by 60% following the recent development in the Nigerian foreign exchange market.

Our correspondent interacted with some Nigerians studying abroad, who shared their plight as regards payment of tuition fee amidst the exchange rate crisis.

Mosopefoluwa, a master’s student studying in the UK shared the challenges she encountered during Form A application. After waiting for eight months she had to resort to changing the naira in her account to pounds, which incurred extra cost.

“The process was tedious. I applied for form A in October 2022, until end of June this year when I paid my outstanding tuition fee, they had not processed it. I already paid a part of my tuition fee and the outstanding I needed to pay was about £5900, equivalent to N3 million as at 2022, which I had already saved in my account before leaving Nigeria.

The deadline for payment of tuition fee was in May 2023; however the school extended the deadline to June 30th, 2023. As at the time I paid in June, the form A had not been processed, they kept saying they were working on it despite filing for tax clearance.

I had to change the naira to pounds, which incurred additional charges of about £3000, it was equivalent to N3 million as at June 2023. Instead of paying N3 million in October 2022, I paid six million in June 2023. The situation is even worse for people planning to study abroad now or those leaving now.

Most of them aren’t using form A anymore, instead they get forex through black market because the margin isn’t significantly much and it saves time. With the current situation, they can’t even stick to a budget because the exchange rate isn’t stable anymore” she stated.

Bolanle, an accountant sponsoring her son’s undergraduate education in Canada, said the major issue she’s dealing with is funding, which is as a result of the fluctuating exchange rate.

“I spent three years processing my son’s undergraduate admission in Canada. I believe in going through the normal procedure, which takes longer, I don’t believe in going through an agent. Three years ago when we started, the dollar rate was N230, it is about N760 now. When we started three years ago, I was supposed to pay $10,000, which was equivalently N2.3 million, this year I had to pay N7.6 million, which is three times higher than the previous amount. The major challenge I have is funding. Unfortunately, the exchange rate issue cut across other aspects like feeding and accommodation, I also have to pay for these things. As a parent, I plan based on my income at the end of the month, unfortunately with the present situation, you can’t even have a budget because of unexpected expenses.

Sometimes, I have to apply for a loan to meet up with the payment. What about those that are self-sponsored and have no one to support them financially, how will they cope?,” she said.

Bolanle attributed the unstable exchange rate to bad governance, implementation of bad policies, which in turn leads to a bad economy. She emphasized the need to scrap Bureau de change as they are contributing significantly to the exchange rate crisis.

“There will always be exchange rate issues as far as bureau de change exists. If you are going through your bank to make payment, I don’t have to know anyone to have access to forex or pay extra charges to access forex.

There shouldn’t be a queue, it shouldn’t be a difficult process at all. Bureau de change needs to be scrapped because they are the ones causing this exchange rate issue. We need to eradicate the fact that that’s the only business they can do, there are other businesses they can go into.

However, the government needs to put something in place for them before scrapping. In summary, Everything boils down to bad governance, bad policies and bad economy,” she stated.

The top destinations for most Nigerians students are the United Kingdom (UK), the United States, Canada, Germany, Finland and other European countries.

Based on a recent data from the British government, Nigerians accounted for 73% of the top five nationalities granted study visas. Over 33,958 Nigerians were granted study visa in the year ending June 2022, while 58,680 Nigerians were granted study visas in the year ending June 2023. This indicates that 24,722 Nigerians were granted sponsored study visas between June 2022 – June 2023.

The immigration data also revealed that Nigeria had the highest number of dependents. In the year ending June 2023, the number of dependents of study visa holders was 67,516, more than twice the previous number, 31,791 in the year ending June 2022.

However, this number would likely decrease next year due to the UK’s recent visa policy, which restricts the number of families for international students due to increased net migration.

According to Mr. Adnan Siddiqi, Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S embassy, Abuja, over 14,400 Nigerian students are currently studying in the U.S in 973 institutions across the country. Also, Nigeria holds the 1st position in Sub-Saharan Africa and ranks 10th in the world amongst the number of students studying in the United States. He disclosed this at the 22nd Annual U.S Embassy and Education USA College Fair 2023 held in Abuja last month.

“It is worth noting that Nigeria sends more students to the United States than any other African country. According to the latest data available, over 14,400 students are currently pursuing their studies in over 973 institutions, spanning all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

“Nigeria proudly holds the 1st position in Sub-Saharan Africa and ranks 10th in the world in numbers of students that attend higher education institutions in the United States, he revealed.

To address the difficulties encountered in getting student visas, he added that the United States Mission in Nigeria issued over 9000 students visa in 2022, indicating a 405.3% increase in visa issuance.

He added that the fair was an opportunity for students to interact with university authorities and U.S officials while also giving students scholarship opportunities. Representatives from 45 U.S colleges and Universities were at the fare to answer students’ questions.

“Our annual college fairs have played a pivotal role in boosting the number of outstanding applicants to U.S. institutions, as well as in securing additional financial aid and scholarship opportunities for Nigerian students.

“In the past year alone, nearly $30 million (N23.2 billion) in financial aid and scholarships were granted to students advised by Education USA. Many of those students attend a diverse range of institutions in the United States, from small liberal arts private colleges to large state universities,” he stated.

The Canadian government processed over 435,000 study permit applications in the first half of the year, marking a 49% increase from the same period in 2022.

In 2022, 12, 324 new study permits were issued to Nigerians. From January to June 2023, 17,308 new study permits were issued to Nigerians, indicating a 44% growth from 2022 to 2023.

Nigerian students hoping to study abroad are facing a tough time in terms of proof of funds, a requirement for students planning to study abroad which proves the financial capability of the student. For instance, for a proof of funds of $20,000, the equivalent in naira was N8.9 million as at December 2022, presently the equivalent of $20,000 in naira is N15,340,000, to complete a student visa process an applicant has to bear an additional cost of more than 50%.

Chinonso Nnadi, a Nigerian student planning to study abroad shared the difficulty he’s experiencing while applying for a master program in Canada.

“I started my student visa application in May 2023. The major challenge delaying my application is funding, the exchange rate is making it extremely difficult for me. The proof of funds for myself, my wife and our child is 17,000 CAD (Canadian Dollar), which means I need at least N9.5million in my account as proof of funds. My worry is that the exchange rate keeps fluctuating, in the next one month the equivalent of 17,000 CAD might probably be N12 million. When I started my application in May, the equivalent of 17,000 CAD in naira was approximately N5.8 million. Within five months, it skyrocketed to N9.5 million. It is a big challenge for me and I am currently stuck, because of this, I have to hold on for a while,” he said.