Friday, 04 October – Thursday, 10 October 2013 ISSUE 502
WWW.AFRICANVOICEONLINE.CO.UK
SINCE 2001
B R I TA I N ’ S N O . 1 A F R I C A N N E W S PA P E R Plane leaving Lagos crashes and explodes SEE PAGE 13
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Gambia quits commonwealth SEE PAGE 6
Nigeria places ban on overseas cash Paper must be eliminated for proper e-health in West Africa
SEE PAGE 22
Central Bank acts to combat ‘dollarisation’ By Alan Oakley
Following its revocation of the operating licences of 20 Bureaux de Change last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has banned the importation of all foreign currencies without prior approval.
The 20 Bureaux de Change are alleged to have purchased unusually large sums of foreign exchange, reported to be US dollars, from deposit money banks in clear contravention of money laundering and terrorism prevention legislation amended in 2011. Announcing the revocations, a letter to all authorised Bureaux warned that the CBN hopes that the move will “serve as a deterrent to others and demonstrate Government’s resolve to stamp out money laundering and also the Bank’s zero tolerance for regulatory infractions.” Speaking in Abuja, CBN Deputy Governor of Economic Policy, Ms. Sarah Alade, said that if the trend for large undocumented transactions was not contained, it could pose grave threats to the value of the naira as well as the Nigerian economy which had gradually become “dollarised”. Nigeria ranks as the largest importer of US dollars
globally, to the chagrin of CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi. Ms. Alade said Mr. Sanusi and his team decided to take immediate action to safeguard the naira and ensure its stability in the face of the aforementioned challenges. The Central Bank has also announced that the Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS) would take effect from Wednesday, October 2. This follows the suspension of the Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS) at the official foreign exchange market. The CBN said that the RDAS would allow only customers of deposit money banks to buy foreign exchange at the CBN through their banks. Under the WDAS, the deposit money banks bought foreign exchange at the CBN on their own accounts and in turn sold to their customers. The CBN statement explains: “The re-introduction of the RDAS is expected to prevent ‘round tripping’ of foreign exchange purchased at the CBN official window to unauthorised channels. “Also, a circular has been issued mandating all deposit money banks to redeem all inward money transfers in naira to the recipients at the prevailing inter-bank foreign exchange rate. This is in line with best practice.”
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CBN Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, is keen to stamp out money laundering and maintain economic stability