Nigeria Gives a Thumbs Up to Remittances; Could Bitcoin Help?
While the CBN may be open to the idea of remittances, there is no evidence they are considering bitcoin as a potential financial source. The Central Bank of Nigeria is saying “yes” to foreign remittances. In an attempt to build the country’s international finance portfolio, the CBN is amending the Foreign Exchange Manual to allow non-native currencies and remittances to enter its money market. The document now reads: “A resident/non-resident Nigerian national and/or entities and foreign national or entity may invest in Nigeria by way of purchase of money market instruments such as....
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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced a scheme that seeks to boost international remittances as well as to encourage the use of official corridors when retrieving funds. The CBN’s move to incentivise recipients follows the plummeting of the country’s official remittances inflows as recipients opt for non-traditional corridors such as cryptocurrencies. Declining Remittances Under the CBN’s so-called “naira for dollar scheme,” recipients of international remittances will be entitled to an extra payment equivalent to 1.2 cents (5 naira) for every one....
According to the latest data from the World Bank, international money transfers into Nigeria dropped by nearly 40% from $23.8 billion recorded in 2019 to $17.2 billion in the past year. Yet despite this fall, remittances, which account for 4% of the country’s GDP, still remain an important source of foreign exchange for the oil-rich country. Migrants Shunned Official Channels As shown by the data, Nigeria has only previously recorded a yearly total remittance inflow of below $20 billion just once since 2011. This occurred in 2016 when a total of $19.7 billion in official remittances....
Nigeria is once again Sub Sahara Africa’s biggest recipient of remittances into the region where the money transfers went up by 6.2 percent to $45 billion, a new World Bank report has shown.
The Impact of Nigerian Policies on Remittances
According to the November 17, 2021 press release, this increase in the value of funds sent is in fact a rebound from the total remittances that were sent by Nigerians in the corresponding period last year. The statement partly attributes this increase to measures that were introduced by the country’s monetary authorities in the....
Bitcoin is growing in popularity in Africa particularly in regions such as Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana. This week the Hong Kong-based Bitspark has launched a remittance service to Nigeria at rates 14.4 percent better than competitors, by leveraging the speed and efficiency of the Bitcoin network. Bitspark Offers Cheaper Remittances by Leveraging the....
This case-study will focus on Bitcoin’s rise in Nigeria. It was partially inspired by a question from Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal about what benefits does Bitcoin bring to people living amid a currency crisis. Economies with Currency Black Markets. There is a currency crisis in the Nigerian economy, and using Bitcoin remittances offers real, measurable financial benefits to its population of 173 million. In the event that President Trump blocks remittances from the US to Mexico (which is a form of capital control on the US economy) then a similar opportunity for the profitable use of....