By Chris Agabi
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted provisional approval to 14 new international money transfer operators (IMTOs).
The final approval will come at a later date when the companies meet other requirements by the CBN.
The IMTOs are licensed by the apex bank to do cross-border fund transfer services for individuals and entities residing abroad to recipients in Nigeria. The CBN hopes to drive remittances through formal channels.
Hakama Sidi Ali, CBN’s acting director of corporate communications, disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to her, the measure will spur the supply of foreign exchange in the official market by promoting greater competition and innovation among IMTOs to lower the cost of remittance transactions and boost financial inclusion.
“This will spur liquidity in Nigeria’s Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), augmenting price discovery to enable a market-driven fair value for the naira,” she said.
Ali also said the move by the apex bank is a means of reducing the volatility in Nigeria’s exchange rate caused by external factors, such as fluctuations in foreign investment and oil export proceeds.
The CBN Governor Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, CBN governor, had said the the CBN will partner IMTOs to collectively commit to doubling remittance flows through formal channels into Nigeria.
“We’ve had very productive discussions with leading IMTOs where we collectively committed to doubling remittance flows through formal channels into Nigeria in the immediate short to medium term,” Cardoso had said.
