BDCs Look To Liberalise Diaspora Remittances
Inclusion of the Bureaux De Change operators in the diaspora remittance collection will liberalise the sector and break the existing monopoly.
Foreign exchange earnings from Diaspora Remittances have for years, supported Nigeria’s economy. But the World Bank has projected global remittances to decline sharply by about 20 percent in 2020 due to the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown.
President, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) Dr. Aminu Gwadabe disclosed Thursday that time has come to break the current industry monopoly that puts the remittances market in the hands of few players depriving others of tapping into the goldmine.
He stressed the urgent need to get more players to join the remittance collection market including BDC operators.
For him, making Bureaux De Change (BDCs) one of the channels through which Diaspora remittances enter the economy will give depth to the forex market and boost BDCs operations.
The ABCON boss insists that for Nigeria to get the full value of what is due to her in the remittance market, BDCs have to be included in the remittance payment channels and allowed to receive funds from Nigerians in Diaspora. The BDCs are to perform this role through contactless and digitized channels to make collections easy and seamless.
“Now is the time for government and financial sector regulators to promote contactless payment channels, leveraging on digitization in the receipt of migrant remittances. The first win will be getting BDCs included in the payment channels to break monopolies of the fewer players, use of Simple Virtual Know Your Customer rule for beneficiaries, and implementing supportive regulations,” Gwadabe said.
The ABCON boss also called for the establishment of training institutes to enhance capacity and infrastructure in the industry and broadening players’ business scope with cash-back incentives for those that patronize BDCs while also implementing less cumbersome and complex documentation requirements for end-users.
Comments are closed.