The currency of Nigeria, the largest African oil producer and a country with the second lowest life expectancy in the world, has seen the value of its currency divided by 700 since its creation in 1973. This symbolic bar was crossed on 2 February last.

The Naira was created on January 1, 1973 and celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2023. Indeed, while it was worth 1.52 dollars at its beginning (one dollar was therefore exchanged for 0.66 naira, or more exactly 0.657895), and its value strengthened even during its first years, reaching nearly $1.85 in January 1980, the naira then experienced an uninterrupted succession of depreciation and devaluations, so much so that the value of the American dollar reached Level of 460.54 naira on Thursday, February 2 2023. Thus, this currency has lost 99.86% of its value in just fifty years, which means, in other words, that it has been divided by 700 (or more exactly 700.02).