CBN Licensed BDCs Now 82, New Policy Regulatory

CBN Licensed BDCs Now 82, Policy Reform. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has officially granted final operating licenses to 82 Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators, a move that signifies the successful implementation of its stringent new regulatory framework aimed at sanitizing the nation’s volatile foreign exchange, FX, market. This development, which took effect from November 27, 2025, marks a significant consolidation of the BDC sub-sector.

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Strict New Regulatory Framework

The approval of the 82 BDCs is based on compliance with the Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for Bureaux De Change Operations in Nigeria 2024, enacted under the Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act, BOFIA, 2020. This updated framework introduced several critical measures intended to stabilize the Naira, enhance transparency, and curb illicit financial flows:

• Capitalization Requirements: The guidelines mandated substantially increased minimum capital requirements for operators. For Tier-1 BDCs, a minimum capital base of ₦2 billion was required, allowing them to operate across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, with permission to open franchises. Tier-2 BDCs were required to meet a minimum capital of ₦500 million.
• Prohibited Activities: The new rules explicitly banned BDCs from engaging in sensitive activities, including futures, options, and derivative trading, outward international transfers, receiving international inward transfers, and dealing with crypto assets or entities associated with them.
• Public Verification: The CBN, through its Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi Ali, confirmed that only the 82 listed operators are authorized to conduct business, with the list to be continuously updated on the CBN website as more operators meet the requirements. The CBN warned that operating a BDC without a valid license is a punishable offense under Section 57(1) of BOFIA 2020.

Economic Impact and Fitch Ratings Advisory

The consolidation of the BDC sector is a key component of the CBN’s broader efforts to restore monetary policy credibility and FX market stability.

Coincidentally, international rating agency Fitch Ratings released its Sub-Saharan Africa Sovereigns Outlook 2026, advising the CBN to adopt a cautious approach to monetary policy easing in the coming year. Fitch noted that while declining inflation across the region creates space for rate cuts, hasty cuts could undermine recent gains made in controlling inflation.

The agency’s recommendation aligns with views from other institutions, like the World Bank, which cautioned that Nigeria’s headline inflation, though having slowed by about 50 per cent from its peak of over 34 per cent to a recent reading of 16 per cent, remains relatively high. Fitch stated that the CBN should continue to ease policy cautiously to avoid destabilizing the economy as the country pursues its medium-term target of single-digit inflation, last achieved in 2015.