The Association of Bureaux de Change Operators of Nigeria has said that its annual turnover is now N1tn.
The President, ABCON, Alh Aminu Gwadabe, said this during a virtual event with the theme ‘BDCs’ operations: A trillion-naira sub sector, issues of formalisation, regulations and way forward’ organised by ABCON to beam light on key opportunities and challenges faced by the BDCs sub-sector.
It also aimed to reiterate the key roles and position of the BDC subsector in the Nigerian economy as well as highlight constraints and challenges faced by the BDC operators.
The event was attended by delegates from the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc and other stakeholders in the economy.
“We are happy to announce that the licensed BDCs subsector is commanding N1tn annual turnover in the economy,” he said.
He also disclosed that ABCON was working with its consultants to revamp the naijabdcs.com to MyBdc.com, to enable the site to have transaction capacity and nip abokifx.com in the bud.
Gwadabe said that ABCON had suggested to the CBN to make BDCs diaspora remittances pay agents.
The CBN, he said, introduced the Investors and Exporters window which allowed foreign investors to freely bring their funds into the economy at a rate of their choice.
Similar plan was implemented by the CBN between 2016 and 2017 and the impact was massive in boosting foreign capital flows into the economy and deepening exchange market liquidity, he said.
“Therefore, ABCON suggests that the CBN allows investors and diaspora remittances senders to freely interact with the BDCs bid and offer rates and make the BDCs pay out agents for remittances,” he said.
He appealed to the CBN to approve ABCON Training Institute to provide more avenues for continuous training of its members on current trends in illicit financial flows and anti-terrorist financing.
The association had on its own organised trainings for its members, and also partnered with the NFIU and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to build capacity for operators, Gwadabe added.
