As part of its efforts to stabilize the Nigerian forex market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday, announced a series of operational changes that will see the Bureau De Change back into the regulated FX framework.

In a memo titled: ‘Operational Mechanism for Bureau De Change Operations in Nigeria,’ signed by the Director of Trade and Exchange Department, O S Nnaji, the CBN outlined key measures aimed at streamlining and improving the mechanism of the BDC segment of the FX market.

Under the new framework, the spread on buying and selling by BDC operators is set to fall within a permissible range of -2.5% to +2.5% of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange market window’s weighted average rate from the previous day.

Also, the new rules require the mandatory rendition by BDC operators of the statutory reports, including daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly renditions. The reports are required to be submitted through the upgraded Financial Institution Forex Rendition System (FIFX), which has been upgraded to meet individual operators’ requirements.

Another notable aspect of the changes comes with accountability. The CBN warned operators that effective August 17, 2023, non-rendition of returns will attract sanctions, potentially – the withdrawal of operating licenses. The apex bank said in cases where BDC operators have had no transactions during a given period, they are required to submit “nil returns.”

This new mechanism brings the operation of Bureau De Change into regulatory scrutiny since over two years ago, when the suspended CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, halted sales of forex to the BDCs.

The memo concluded by urging all BDC operators and the public to familiarize themselves with the new guidelines and adhere to them meticulously.

Since the meeting between the CBN governor Folashodun Shonubi and President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, the financial regulator has begun to implement new policies aimed at stabilizing the floated forex market.

Shonubi said he has the president’s approval to implement a series of policies that will boost the performance of the naira in the FX market.

“Mr. President is very concerned about some of the goings on in the foreign exchange market. One of the things we discussed is what could be done to stabilize and what could be done to improve the liquidity in the market and also the goings on in the various other markets, including the parallel market,” he said.

Following the deregulation of the FX market, the parity between the official Investor & Exporter window and the parallel market widened by N205, as the naira fell to N955 per dollar. Shonubi attributed the situation to speculations and illegal activities in the BDC segment of the FX market.

Earlier, he said that most of the diaspora remittances were diverted to the parallel market with the help of bank officials, compounding dollar illiquidity in the I&E window.

On Thursday, the CBN announced the introduction of a foreign exchange (FX) price verification system (PVS) portal. The apex bank said a price verification report from the portal is now mandatory for all Form M requests, effective from August 31, 2023.

The changes are expected to boost the naira’s performance in the FX market, building on the progress the currency has recorded following the $3 billion emergency crude oil repayment loan taken by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) from Afreximbank. The loan, aimed at boosting dollar liquidity, has seen the naira gain about N100 in both the I&E window and the parallel market.

Sure, I am biased because Abia State is the best. And if you live in Aba and some communities in Abia, it is fair to write that Abians voted for a LEADER in Dr. Alex Otti. When he called me, and asked me to join the Economic Transformation Council to move Abia Forward, I knew it was a great moment. 

For weeks, day and night, we crafted the Economic Plan. As 100 days arrive since he took oath (May 29th – Sept 6th, 2023), I can say that Mr. Governor has nailed the checklists with weeks to spare. It comes down to Execution, and we’ve got a great operator and executor.

Aba is coming back. Yes, no more excuses of no money. How can you say that Abia has no money when you see mansions people build in Ohafia, Abiriba and Arochukwu with most of the wealth coming from Aba?

Abia will move forward. The next phase is dealing with insecurity which has to be a joint effort with all the neighbouring states. Once that is done,  the playbook will open wider. #believe in Abia. #believe in Nigeria. Let’s having a working nation.

Ndubuisi Ekekwe

Member, Abia State Economic Transformation Council

I am honoured to report that Dr Alex Otti, OFR, Abia State Governor-Elect, called and asked me to join the Abia State governorship transition council. I ACCEPTED. Over a series of phone conversations with Mr. Governor-elect, he has emphasized unambiguously that ABIA will RISE, not just for a few but for ALL. And I assured him that his fellow Abians, Nigerians and world citizens will assist on that journey.

What can you do for Abia State? And how can Abia State help to bring your aspirations and visions to become a reality? Find the road, and the roads to opportunities begin at Abia State, as the Lord lives in Abia; we’re the God’s Own State.

Ndi Abia, thank you for the opportunity. This is the time: “ABIA Must Move Forward”. Be part of it.

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: My mother said I was born in Aba. I was there two years ago for a pilgrimage at the national museum of colonial history. It’s located on Ikot Ekpene road. I wasn’t happy with the derelict look of the whole place. I have an attachment to that city. I looked up at the pictures of the women on the wall of the museum who rebelled against colonialism in 1929, and I thought of the obligation being alive is to walk so that those who would come after me may run, and the duty it is to position them to run so that future generations may fly. I owe it to my heritage, to those women who crawled under the burden of colonialism so that Nigeria may stand today as a sovereign country, to contribute Nigeria and Africa not only to being politically sovereign; but also to become economically sovereign in capacity to leverage knowledge and skills of its people into productivity that transforms intellect of its people and its resources into distributed products, services and infrastructure that serve domestic needs. I would definitely set up a factory and a warehouse in Aba this year, and deliver 100 decent jobs in each of the LGA in Abia. Thank you, Ndubuisi Ekekwe for your contribution to the progress of Aba and Abia.

Comment 2: Well done Prof, so far, Gov. Otti has started very well. We pray for more grace to execute all the plans. Abia will be great again, and of course Nigeria.

Comment 3: Well done Prof. Ndubuisi Ekekwe and team. Security is pivotal to economic growth, and one of the best approach is to sensitise the local communities.

The government should build and equip neighbourhood police who will man their various communities, if we can engage the right set of people the insecurity challenges will be half solved.

God Bless Abia(God’s Own State)
God Bless Nigeria

If you live in Aba and some communities in Abia, it is fair to write that Abians voted for a LEADER in Dr. Alex Otti. When he called me, and asked me to join the Economic Transformation Council to move Abia Forward, I knew it was a great moment.

For weeks, day and night, we… pic.twitter.com/K0nmJ8DPnj

— Ndubuisi Ekekwe (@ndekekwe) August 19, 2023

Comment 4:  Prof your one of the few I have regards for and have followed you for years. I am yet to see a single criticism from you on current Abia leadership, just like you query FG. Abia is doing 100% perfection. Is this because it’s your team!

My Response: I expect you to query Abia State (I hope fairly). In Abia, I have the influence to call the governor and there is no need to rant since I am part of the team fixing what needs to be fixed. I will THANK you if you challenge the government and tell us. If I join the federal government and I am asked to fix, say Science and Tech, you should not expect me to be pointing out issues when I am the one entrusted to fix.

I just hope my articles are fair and fact-based. Yet, I do not criticize any government. I just point out things which do not make sense, from my understanding, like fuel subsidy and floating Naira. And most times, I offer suggestions. 

Visit Abia, point things out and by doing just that, you help the government. Make it factual.

(Meanwhile, share one article where I have criticized the federal govt. Just curious)

Comment 4R: Nothing wrong with positive criticism, 83 days in office is too early to condemn. turning things around is not like pressing electric switch buttons. Time will tell, God keep us all alive. No one knows it all, even US we all live

My Response: “83 days in office is too early” – I do not see it that way. A day is enough if you understand what leadership is about. It is not building roads, factories, etc but inspiring people to #believe. So, I am not measuring Otti because of roads, etc. Rather, his ability to inspire Abians to rise above their individual abilities. Like going to Ariaria to tell men to clean their shops, etc, even as they expect government to provide them power. If you cannot inspire, you have lost your mission. And you can do that on DAY 1.

The current edition of Tekedia Institute Mini-MBA will come to an end early next month. Now, the question is clear and unambiguous: how do I grow this business, using all the tools, frameworks, and knowledge capabilities I have acquired over the last few weeks?

Good People, when a company is growing, everyone is a star. The CEO speaks fine. The secretary is amazing. The driver knows how to drive. The Board is leading with vision. Simply, Growth solves most problems in companies.

We understand that fact of the market system, and over the next few weeks,  we will answer that question, by connecting all the weeks we’ve spent on Innovation, Operations, Strategy, etc, like a great conductor in an orchestra who delivers an unforgettable experience.

Join me tomorrow and let us discuss how to grow a business; Zoom link in the class board 

I wrote on August 14, 2023 with a clear message: “Do Not Bet Against The Naira; I Expect Nigerian Government To Reverse Some Policies”. In that post, I challenged the government to go pragmatic, and move away from the liturgical purity of campaign promises and manifestos, to a framework based on governing realities. Across all indicators in Nigeria, it was clearly evident that the government would introduce a fudge factor to shift the Naira/USD equilibrium point, by pushing the supply of US dollars towards parity with demand.

That was done with the special loan from Afreximbank: “The NNPC Ltd. and @afreximbank  have jointly signed a commitment letter and Termsheet for an emergency $3billion crude oil repayment loan. The signing, which took place … at the bank’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, will provide some immediate disbursement that will enable the NNPC Ltd. to support the Federal Government in its ongoing fiscal and monetary policy reforms aimed at stabilizing the exchange rate market.”

Good People, Nigeria has tools which can bring FX below N500/$ in the short-term because the nation is asset-heavy and can create many special purpose vehicles for the global fund managers. Of course, nobody wants that, since if we do not solve the root cause of the problem, sooner or later, we will have to deal with the evolving paralysis. The root cause remains improving innovation and productivity.

(You can add reducing Nigeria’s legendary public sector corruption.)

And Economics 101 continues to play out: if supply rises, keeping demand constant, expect price to drop, for most common products within the elastic band. Winning the FX battle by Naira will follow that path. Today, it is borrowing on crude oil because oil will flow; tomorrow, we hope it is something sustainable. Indeed, SUPPLY, not verbal attacks on AbokiFX, speculators or any person, will deliver results. No need begging speculators; teach them a lesson by making them lose tons of money.

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: Let’s laud the government for providing a short term succour to the pains caused by a dollar driven economy, but just as you mentioned in one of your articles some months ago that the price of Dollars should be controlled by output from local Factories and not in offices, that remains our long term fix.

Kudos Prof. Ndubuisi Ekekwe

Comment 2: Teach them a lesson? I am very surprised at such statement! I believe if you look at history the one who needs to be taught a lesson is the cbn and the fg policy makers and not the speculators!

If you are conversant with price action you would agree that this may just be a price retracement for a much stronger Bulish run!

Let’s leave the speculators alone and let the fg and cbn tackle the problem from the root

Speculation has never been illegal! That’s why we have smart investors and traders who watch the economic indices of a nation and make moves!

Comment 3: As much as this move seems laudable at least in the short term, the fundamental problem remains especially for a corruption heavy political leadership like ours, question is for how long are we going to be making this kind of move, when we all know the nagging issue of obscene corruption (without consequences to serve as deterrent) remains? – for me that remains the major worry.