The Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has renewed its appeal to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to grant licensed BDCs direct access to official foreign exchange channels, saying the move would capture billions of dollars in diaspora remittances and help steady the naira during the high-demand “Detty December” period.
Speaking in Lagos on Sunday, ABCON President Dr. Aminu Gwadabe told reporters that the festive season traditionally brings a flood of inbound dollars from Nigerians abroad returning for holidays, concerts, tourism and family reunions. He cited official figures showing that Lagos State alone attracted $71.6 million from tourism, hospitality and entertainment during last year’s end-of-year celebrations.
“These inflows represent a golden opportunity for Nigeria to retain more foreign exchange at home,” Gwadabe said. “Licensed BDCs are the closest touchpoint for retail users and can channel these funds transparently into the formal economy instead of letting them leak into unlicensed fintech platforms or the parallel market.”
The ABCON chief argued that when BDCs had regular access to CBN forex windows between 2017 and 2021, the naira traded steadily around ₦365 to the dollar. He warned that the current restrictions have left hundreds of licensed operators idle, unable to cover basic running costs and forcing some to scale back or close.
Gwadabe called for a “democratisation” of the retail FX market, allowing BDCs to source dollars directly from official windows to inject liquidity, reduce volatility and improve monitoring of parallel-market activities.
On the ongoing sector overhaul, he revealed that the CBN is fast-tracking approvals-in-principle and final licences for operators that meet the new capital requirements. More than 200 BDCs have already registered under the revised framework, with the regulator encouraging mergers among smaller players to achieve compliance.
“These reforms will transform Nigerian BDCs into globally competitive entities and restore their role as a critical policy tool for exchange-rate management,” Gwadabe added.
He expressed confidence that constructive dialogue with the apex bank would soon restore BDCs to full participation in the retail foreign-exchange segment, just in time to harness the expected year-end dollar surge and support naira stability.
