At the end of 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) decided it was time to aggressively mop up excess cash in the economy and push more of the population towards its cashless policy by redesigning the naira and limiting cash withdrawal amounts. If you’ve been on any news or social media platform tied to Nigeria, you should know by now how terribly that went. The policy faced a legal challenge from 16 Nigerian states arguing against the length and unfairness of the deadline, resulting in the Supreme Court ruling that the old naira notes remain legal tender until December 31, 2023, and ordering the apex bank to suspend the deadline for the swap of naira notes. Even with the suspension, the ramifications of this policy mishap on the economy have been massive.
Banking ecosystem and payment infrastructure unprepared
The magnitude of impact has been huge. Cash in circulation declined by almost 70% between December 2022 and…
