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•Says automated services underway
President Association of Bureau De’Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Mr. Aminu Gwadabe, has backed the federal government’s relentless raid on individuals hawking foreign exchange on the streets of major cities in Nigeria.
Gwadabe, in a conference call with journalists on Wednesday evening, said Nigeria is the only country in the world where foreign exchange is sold on the streets, which in turn fuels currency speculation that ultimately hurts the economy.
He said the genuine forex dealers were licensed by relevant agencies including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) upon meeting set criteria for operations.
He added that members of the association will automate their operations in the next three weeks to bring some stability in the foreign exchange market.
He said: “In the fx market, in terms of volatility, it is worrisome and also the management of the CBN and security agencies are looking into it and how to control it. I want to thank the management of the CBN. For the past two and a half years, this is the first time we have seen engagement and a listening CBN.
“What is happening is not targeted at licensed Bureau De’Change but the operators of FX street trading. For us, we are against any street trading and we support any actions that will remove street trading. It affects me also. I have an office but my clients cannot come to my office because of the menace of street traders.
“I want to congratulate the government, the CBN and if it can be sanitized, good. We support any sanitization that can remove street trading. We all saw that there is no place on earth that you can go and see rampant street trading of FX. So, we’re in support of it”, he explained.
“On our own part as Association of Bureau De’Change, we have put a lot of recommendations on how we can at least, use technology, innovation, automation that are now a moving wave. As the Association of Bureau De’Change Operators, we encourage automation. So, let us the entire retail end sector in order to leave a legacy.
In three weeks, we will automate the system. We already have the automation system in place just for the CBN to give us the request for “No Objection”. That is all we are asking. We can entirely automate the industry of any retail trader. We will automate them in three weeks. We have already built the automation platform. It is there for them, we have sent it to them, let them give us approval for no objection that’s all we need”.
