Money remittances to Nigeria: Nigerians have demanded that International Money Transfer operators (IMTOs) offering remittance services to the country to pay recipients of money in foreign currency so it can be used by the senders in a manner they prefer.
The new policy was announced by the governor of the Central bank of Nigeria (CNB) Mr. Godwin Emefiele, on Thursday in Abuja and entered into effect on Friday 4th December 2020.
The CBN adopted the new policy after discovering that Nigeria was being short-changed by the international money transfer companies acting in collusion with their partners in Nigeria as the volume of money sent to Nigeria is not reflected in the amount received by Nigeria.
There have been rumours for several years that the banks and the IMTOs collude to keep money sent to Nigeria from reaching Nigeria through a dubious exchange scheme.
The African Courier reported that Mr. Ememfiele has said that the data analysed through investigations over the past year showed that IMTO inflow into the country rather than compete on improving transaction volumes and create more efficient ways for Nigerians in the Diaspora to remit funds.
It is therefore “in an effort to boost remittance inflows and foster an environment that would enable faster, cheaper, and more convenient flow of remittances back to Nigeria,” that the CBN announced the new policy initiative, the CBN chief said.
“In an effort to liberalise, simplify and improve the receipt and administration of Diaspora money remittances into Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria wishes to announce as follows:
- Beneficiaries of Diaspora Remittances through International Money Transfer Operators shall henceforth receive such inflows in foreign currency (US Dollars) through the designated bank of their choice.
- Such recipients of remittances may have the option of receiving these funds in foreign currency cash (US Dollars) or into their ordinary domiciliary account.
“All Authorized Dealers and the general public should note that beneficiaries shall have unfettered access and utilization to such foreign currency proceeds, either in FX [foreign exchange] cash and/or in their Domiciliary Accounts, in line with our circular TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/010.”
I therefore seize this opportunity to announce to Nigerians both at home and in the Diaspora, that the policy of recipients receiving their monies from abroad kicks off on December 4, 2020. All the IT systems of these IMTOs (Western Union, Moneygram and Ria services) and the DMBs have been properly configured to begin remittance from Friday, December 4, 2020.
Source: The African courier, Central Bank of Nigeria.