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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday licensed 11 new International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to operate in Nigeria.
This is in furtherance of efforts to liberalise the Foreign Exchange Market, ensure liquidity and make foreign exchange more readily available to low end users.
The new IMTOs include Trans-Fast Remittance LLC, WorldRemit Limited, UAE Exchange Centre LLC, Wari Limited, Homesend S.C.R.L, Small World Financial Services Group Limited, and Weblink International Limited.
Others are Cashpot Limited, DT&T Corporation Limited, Fiem Group LLC DBA Ping Express and CP Express Limited.
“The CBN also wishes to reiterate its commitment to providing an enabling environment for international money transfer services in Nigeria”, Isaac Okorafor, acting director, corporate communications said in a statment.
The CBN had on August 11 reiterated its commitment to licencing operators in the IMTO space in Nigeria, following an allegation by some persons that the Apex bank has stopped the licensing of interested IMTOs in the country.
The CBN invited interested applicants to forward their requests for licensing to the Director, Trade and Exchange Department of the apex bank, in line with the its Guidelines on International Money Transfer Services in Nigeria (2014), which among other things, specifies the minimum technical and business requirements for various participants in the international money transfer services industry in Nigeria.
Analysts had said that the unlicensed MTOs were driving significant traffic to the alternative market, thus undermining the exchange rate structure.
“Rather than lock out unlicensed MTOs, what the CBN could do to drive traffic away from the black market is to take off the 41 items that are restricted from accessing forex at the official market,” said Taiwo Oyedele, head of tax and regulatory services at consulting firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
Analysts also said diaspora remittances might overtake oil proceeds this year. Nigeria projects oil exports to rake in $44bn, but if Joint Venture portions for International Oil Companies, and production costs are stripped off, Nigeria’s take will probably be around $21bn this year and estimates point to diaspora remittance coming in at between $23bn and $24bn.Nigerians in the diaspora sent in $21 billion last year to their families back home.
