By Merit Ibe
The recently implemented policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which suspended sale of foreign exchange (forex) to Bureau De-Change operators has worsened the economic woes of the country.
President of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, who disclosed this in Lagos, noted that Naira has further lost value to the US Dollar since the CBN started its policy of excluding BDCs from foreign exchange market. He lamented that ABCON’s concern was the fact that such decision was rather too erratic. “They do that from time to time, but I am not exonerating my members from some of the accusations, because I know what is happening, but you cannot sanitise a problem with another problem or rubbish. Definitely, that cannot yield the expected result.
“Having known their modus operandi; which is to be using sledge hammer to kill a fly, this will not work in the present situation. Before you issue a statement, the CBN ought to have consulted with us and asked us to put our house in order, but it was not so.
“The implementation of this policy has brought untold hardship on the entire economy and Nigerians; it has also worsened the security situation as well as adversely affecting those that import raw materials and machineries, as the government alone does not have the capacity to sustain the provision of the required forex in the country.
Today, $1 US exchange for over N575 which cannot be reversed on the short run. So, there is an urgent need for the CBN to go back to the drawing board, consult with the BDC operators who they licensed, and proffer solutions together.”
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the country’s first digital currency, eNaira, must be accepted as a form of payment by all merchants and business outlets.
Speaking when he featured on Business Morning, a Channels Television programme, on Monday, Musa Jimoh, CBN’s director of payment system management, said eNaira is a legal tender just as the naira.
“Today, anywhere you present naira to pay, compulsorily it must be accepted because that is our fiat currency,” he said.
“So, the same way naira is accepted that you can’t reject it, is the same way e-naira must be accepted. Anywhere in this country where e-naira is presented, it must be accepted. So, merchants must accept e-naira as a means of payment.”
He said that similar to the fiat currency (naira), the CBN bears all liabilities for the eNaira.
Jimoh advised Nigerians to open eNaira wallets, which could be downloaded on mobile phones from October 1.
The liability of the e-naira money is directly on CBN, which is similar to the cash you hold. The liability of the cash you hold today rests with the CBN. So, it gives Nigerians the opportunity to bank with CBN,” he added.
On whether Nigeria was ready for the e-naira due to the technological challenges in the country, he said that he didn’t expect it to be a serious problem.
“eNaira is a journey. We don’t expect that on October 1, all business merchants in Nigeria will accept it. We don’t even expect that come October 1, all Nigerians will have e-naira. It is a journey. It will continue to grow,” he said.
He said that one of the benefits of the eNaira is that it would save the cost of printing new naira notes. “Remember there was a time in this country when you had to practically beg business outlets, merchants and others to accept POS transactions. But we have come to a point where traders now beg for POS terminals.”
“Today the cost of producing the naira and coins is very high. It costs money to print naira in this country. Now, the minting of e-naira is electronic, so it reduces cost.”
He added that charges of transferring funds would be lower for those using the e-naira.
On why the CBN chose a foreign firm instead of a fintech company in Nigeria, Jimoh said it had to do with capacity.
He said Bitt Inc., which will handle the project, had done similar projects for other countries and already had the capacity and experience.
The CBN director added that the company would be registered and managed in part by Nigerians while the technological aspect would be handled by the foreign arm.
“The CBN digital currency is not what every country has implemented. We are blazing the trail in Africa. Nigeria is the only country in Africa that is doing it. And so many advanced countries are not doing it,” Jimoh said.
“You can only talk of China and the Bahamas that have tried to do something serious on central bank digital currency.