The Nigerian naira replaced the country’s use of the British pound on the 1st of January 1973. Pound to naira conversion was at a rate of 2 naira =1 pound. In 2008, the Nigerian government planned to re-denominate the currency at a rate of 100 old Naira -1new Naira, but the government later suspended the plans. The name naira is simply a contraction of “Nigeria”, while the subdivision, kobo, is named by a derivation of the English “copper.”
The Naira has continued to lose its value due to high inflation rate in the country. Below is the Naira compared to some African countries.
1Ghanaian Cedis(GH₵) =65.83 Nigerian Naira (#)
1South African Rand( Rand) = 23.01 Nigerian Naira(#)
1Egyptian Pound (E£) = 24.13 Nigerian Naira(#)
1 Ethiopian Birr =10.37 Nigerian Naira(#)
1 Algerian Dinar(DA) = 2.97 Nigerian Naira (#)
1 Moroccan Dirham(DH) = 41.56 Nigerian Naira (#)
1 Botswanan Pula(P)=33.36 Nigerian Naira (#)
1 Cape Verdean Escudo($) =4.09 Nigerian Naira (#)
1 Djiboutian Franc(Fdj) =2.14 Nigerian Naira(#)
1 Gambian dalasi(D) = 7.36 Nigerian Naira(#)
1 Kenyan Shilling(KSh) =3.52 Nigerian Naira(#)
1 Lesotho Loti(M) = 22.97 Nigerian Naira (#)
1 Libyan Dinar (LD) =279.49 Nigerian Naira(#)
I Liberian Dollar(L$) = 1.91 Nigerian Naira (#)
1 Mauritian Rupee(Rs) =9.58 Nigerian Naira (#)
1 Mozambican metical (MT) = 5.31 Nigerian Naira (#)
1 Namibian dollar( N$) = 22.95 Nigerian Naira (#)
1 Seychellois Rupee =21.30 Nigerian Naira(#)
1 Sudanese pound=6.90 Nigerian Naira (#)
1 Tunisian Dinar (DT)= 139.25 Nigerian Naira(#)
1 Swazi Lilangeni (E) = 23.02 Nigerian Naira (#)
1 Zambian Kwacha(K) = 21.01 Nigerian Naira (#)