The Central Bank of Nigeria has formed a task-force to double remittance inflows into the country from the $20.5 billion received in 2023.
This decision was announced by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, during a press briefing held after the conclusion of the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, DC on April 20 2024.
The task-force will report directly to Yemi Cardoso, the Governor of the CBN.
The bank had met with various International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings to address formal remittance inflows into Nigeria as part of a larger effort to boost forex supplies.
Representatives of various domestic and international stakeholders in the Nigerian forex market attended the meeting. Among them were:
- LemFi
- Flutterwave
- J.P. Morgan
- Remitly
- VertoFx
- Interswitch
- BudPay
- Makeba
- TapTap Send
- Visa
- Venture Garden Group
and other key players in the remittances industry.
According to the Governor, the taskforce will drive progress and address any bottlenecks that hinder flows through formal channels.
“We had very productive discussions leading to International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) where we collectively committed to doubling remittance flows through formal channels into Nigeria in the immediate short to medium term,” said Cardoso.
“This target is both ambitious and achievable and we are wasting no time in setting up a collaborative task force reporting to myself to drive progress to address any bottlenecks to hinder flows through formal channels.”
According to the latest World Bank data, Nigeria accounted for 38% of the $54 billion remittance inflows into sub-Saharan Africa in 2023. The inflows to Nigeria increased by 2% that year [2023].
According to the bank, fixed exchange rates and capital controls are diverting remittances to the region from official to unofficial channels. Moreover, sending $200 to the region cost 7.9% on average in the second quarter of 2023, compared to a global average of 6.2%.
Among the objectives agreed upon in Cardoso’s meeting with International Money Transfer Operators include:
- Lowering transaction costs
- Doubling remittance inflows via formal channels
- Establishment of a stakeholders’ forum on IMTOs
- Compliance standardization
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