TheCable

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced new licences for 11 International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs), including World Remit.

Earlier, the CBN had alerted Nigerians to cease transacting money transfer businesses with unregistered money transfer operators.

“This warning has become necessary because of the activities of some unregistered IMTOs, whose modes of operation are detrimental to the Nigerian economy,” the CBN had said.

The act was seen as banning all unregistered IMTOs from Nigeria’s foreign exchange market, but the CBN said the IMTOs could get licences, via an ongoing process.

The CBN’s action has yielded results, with 11 hitherto unregistered IMTOs now registered.

“In furtherance of efforts to liberalise the Foreign Exchange Market, ensure liquidity and make foreign exchange more readily available to low end users, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has licensed more International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to operate in Nigeria,” Isaac Okorafor, acting director of corporate communications of the bank, said via a statement.

“In line with the existing Guidelines on International Money Transfer Services in Nigeria (2014), the following IMTOs are now licensed to operate in Nigeria:

“The CBN also wishes to reiterate its commitment to providing an enabling environment for international money transfer services in Nigeria,” the bank concludes.