Foreign remittances: CBN grants license to 14 IMTOs

As part of concerted efforts to increase the foreign-currency remittance inflow, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted licenses to 14 new International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs).

The licenses which are Approval-in-Principle (AIP) were  disclosed in Abuja on Wednesday by the Bank’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali.

The Bank argues that the initiative 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.

According to the Apex Bank, “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.”

It will be recalled that the CBN Governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, had recently declared, “We’ve set ourselves a target to double remittance flows into Nigeria within a year, a goal I firmly believe is within reach.

“We are wasting no time driving progress to remove any bottlenecks hindering flows through formal channels permanently. We have a determined pathway and a sequenced approach to tackling all challenges ahead, working hand in hand with key stakeholders in the remittance industry.”

The Apex Bank also viewed increasing formal remittance flows— one of the major sources of foreign exchange, accounting for over 6 percent of GDP—as a means of reducing the historical volatility in Nigeria’s exchange rate caused by external factors, such as fluctuations in foreign investment and oil export proceeds.

The increase in the number of IMTOs is one of the primary actions initiated by the CBN’s remittance task force, overseen by Governor Cardoso as a collaborative unit pulling together specialists to work closely with the private sector and market operators to facilitate the ease of doing business in the remittance ecosystem in Nigeria.

The task force was established as a direct result of an executive learning session with IMTOs during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings held in Washington DC, United States of America, in April 2024.

The task force will meet regularly to implement strategy and monitor the impact of its measures on remittance inflows.