NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

The Central Bank of Nigeria has given new operating licenses to 11 International Money Transfer (IMTOs) service providers, in efforts to open up the market and make foreign exchange readily available to the nation’s low income earners.

WorldRemit, a leading online remitter globally and which sent more than 40,000 transfers monthly to Africa’s biggest economy before it suspended its partnership with local correspondents over new regulations in early August, made a return to the West African nation in the new licensing round.

Other operators licensed by CBN include UAE Exchange Centre LLC, Wari Limited, Weblink Internal Limited, Small World Financial Services Group Limited, CP Express Limited, Fiem Group LLC DBA Ping Express, Cash Pot Limited, DT&T Corporation, Trans-Fast Remittance LLC and Wari Limited.

They join Western Union, MoneyGram and Ria Money Transfer that were cleared earlier this month by CBN, when it suspended hundreds of global remittance firms from operating in Nigeria.

“In furtherance of efforts to liberalize the Foreign Exchange Market, ensure liquidity and make foreign exchange more readily available to low end users, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has licensed more International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to operate in Nigeria,” Isaac Okorafor, acting director of corporate communication at the financial regulator said in a statement.