Forex Crisis: ABCON Urges CBN to Reconsider Recapitalization Requirement for BDCs

The Association of Bureau De Change Operators (ABCON) has criticized the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new recapitalization requirements for its members amid the ongoing foreign exchange crisis.

ABCON President, Aminu Gwadabe, expressed this concern on Thursday during the 8th edition of the Vanguard Economic Summit.

On Wednesday, the CBN issued a fresh guideline for BDC operators in Nigeria, mandating all operators to re-apply for licenses and increasing the minimum capital requirements to N2 billion for tier-1 licenses and N500 million for tier-2 licenses.

However, Gwadabe has urged the CBN to reconsider its directive, arguing that the required capital increase is not in line with global standards.

“In 2014, the capital was raised from N10 million to N35 million, and now it is being increased from N35 million to N500 million for tier-2 operators and N2 billion for tier-1. This is highly against global standards,” Gwadabe stated.

This development comes as the Naira depreciated on Thursday in both parallel and official forex markets after experiencing four days of appreciation.