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The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), says over N1 trillion annual transaction volume by the BDCs sector is under threat on account of July 2021 Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting where the CBN of the suspension of weekly dollar interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The operators also said huge capital investment in the sector is becoming redundant, gradually being eroded and winding up.
ABCON President, Alhaji (Dr) Aminu Gwadabe, who disclosed this in a statement,lamented that the BDC sector is becoming comatose since last year .
He advocated the need for the apex bank to de-risk the BDCs operations to be able to receive diaspora remittances through the International Money Supply Operators (IMTOs) and deepen foreign capital flows to the economy.
Gwadabe said the ABCON understands the challenges faced by the apex bank due to the dwindling foreign reserves , declining oil output and oil theft, Covid-19 induced economic pains, fiscal policy challenges, debt burden and election spending, which are making it difficult for the CBN to sustain weekly dollar interventions to BDCs.
According to him, the BDCs should be allowed to access dollars or diaspora remittances through the autonomous forex windows like allowing operators to receive IMTOs proceeds, carrying out online dollar operations and Point of Sale (PoS) Agency, among others.
He said ABCON has developed multiple applications for BDCs’ transformation from being CBN cash dispensers to globally competitive entities with capacity to attract foreign capital flows to the economy.
“We support any measures that would lead to compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), supporting CBN’s exchange rate stability policies and security agencies to punish any BDC operator breaching corporate governance and compliance guidelines. It is our sincere believed that the bdcs need to be integrated back officially to ensure their continuous potent role in exchange rate stability management” Gwadabe said.
He disclosed that ABCON is now training Compliance Officers to ensure they are acquainted with what is required of them, especially on monthly rendition of results and tracking illicit capital flows.
Gwadabe said that ABCON has over the years established itself as a key player in the BDC industry, and has also made several commitments and sacrifices to ensure that the sector continues to thrive despite all odds.
“The recognition of the role of BDCs in Nigeria financial sector remains the first step to building a sustainable and viable forex market that is comparable to what is obtainable in other developed economies. But getting the Nigerian BDC sector to where it is desired to be demands hard-work, quality leadership, regulatory foresight and sound government policies,” he said.
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