The website meant to keep users of foreign exchange and other stakeholders up-to-date on current buying and selling rates in the market is known as www.naijabdcs.com.
Speaking at the launching ceremony in Lagos, ABCON President, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe said this development opens a new chapter in the financial news reporting in Nigeria.
According to him, the new live rate engine will provide buying and selling rates across different cities and also average national rate for the country.
All the CBN-approved BDCs will key into this revolution meant to transform the forex market, and keep speculators out of the market, Gwadabe added.
“As we all are aware, ABCON has for years been an active group in the financial services sector, concentrating more on the Bureaux de Change (BDC) segment of the market and ensuring that global best practices are followed in the operations of BDCs,” he said.
Gwadabe noted that the site would also serve as a rallying point for investors’ and journalists who needed to know the exchange rates across the nation.
The ABCON management takes information technology very seriously. That explains why it upgraded its Information Communication and Technology (ICT) platforms, to achieve full digitisation of BDCs’ operations in line with its goal of sustaining transparent operation and prompt rendition of weekly returns to operators.
The CBN approval reaffirms the regulator’s commitment to a transparent and viable forex market where stakeholders’ interests are protected.
The BDC sector, according to Gwadabe, is confronted with many challenges such as multiple exchange rate, abnormal bank charges, Value Added Tax (VAT) and Commission on Turnover (COT), among others.
Also, the BDC business he said has been badly affected by uncompetitive rate as the CBN sells dollars to BDCs at higher rate compared to what it sells to commercial banks, yet both institutions target the same market segment and customers.
The BDCs buy dollar from the International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) at N360/$1 and sell to end users at N362/$1 while the CBN sells to commercial banks at N358/$1 and the banks sell to end users at N360/$1.
“We want the CBN to review BDC rate to align with that of the banks since both sectors serve the same customers. We also want the CBN to grant ABCON proposed trading platforms approval in principle. This will give ABCON and its technology partners the boost needed to kick-start the project.
“We also appeal to the CBN to issue Letter of Consent to our proposed training institute. This is going to be a boost to the current ABCON management’s commitment to capacity building of its members which boosts competency in the sector.
“Equally, we want the apex bank to make BDC transactions VAT and COT exempt, reduce BDCs’ licence renewal payments and also expand beyond scope of transactions,” Gwadabe submitted.
The site, www.naijabdcs.com, is a live rate engine room created by the ABCON to promote transparency and price discovery in the foreign exchange (forex) market.
ABCON therefore used the opportunity to appeal to the CBN to take urgent steps to review the rate at which the dollar is sold to BDCs in order to boost ongoing recovery of the naira against dollar.
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