The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted approval in principle (AIP) to 14 new international money transfer operators (IMTOs).
IMTOs carry out cross-border fund transfer services for individuals and entities residing abroad to recipients in Nigeria.
Approval, in principle, is a conditional acceptance of a proposal subject to meeting other requirements for final approval.
The CBN granted the AIP amid plans to double foreign currency remittance flows through formal channels.
Ali said the approval will help increase the sustained 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.
On April 20, Olayemi Cardoso, CBN governor, said the financial regulator collaborated with 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 said.
He said CBN has also set up a task force to address bottlenecks hindering flows through formal channels.
In the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, Nigeria recorded $282.61 million as total direct foreign exchange (FX) remittances.
