A scrutiny of the list of 5,690 Bureaux de Changes (BDC) licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shows that there are no licensed BDCs in eight, out of the 36 states and federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The states with no licensed BDCs are Adamawa, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Taraba, Zamfara, Yobe and Jigawa.
Of the 29 states with licensed BDCs, Lagos State has the highest number of licenses, with 2,958 licenses, representing 52 per cent of the licensees, followed by the FCT with 1,179, representing 21 per cent and Kano, with 981, representing 17 per cent.
Anambra state in fourth place has 259 licensed BDCs while Kaduna placed 5th with 55 licenses.
Conversely, Bayelsa, Benue and Nasarawa have the least number of licensed BDCs with one each, while Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Gombe and Kogi each have two licensed BDCs.
Other states with licenses are Abia 50; Oyo 32; Enugu 25; Rivers 24; Delta 21; Sokoto 18; Imo 15; Edo 14; Borno 11; Bauchi 7; Kwara 7; Plateau 6; Ebonyi 4; Kebbi 4; Niger 3; Ogun 3; and Katsina 3.
Meanwhile, on the list of licensed BDCs are some with names which are downright funny, while some are strange.
They include CCTV BDC LTD; Chelsea BDC LTD; Couple BDC LTD; Cream BDC LTD; Cruising BDC LTD; Day-by-day BDC LTD; Deadlist BDC LTD; Decorum BDC LTD; Deep Freezer BDC LTD; Divine Focus BDC LTD; Ephesians-three-twenty BDC LTD; Four to five BDC LTD; Fourteen February BDC LTD; Fullmoon BDC LTD and Go-well BDC LTD.
Others are: Gucci BDC LTD; Happy Ends LTD; His Grace BDC LTD; Home Alone BDC LTD; Honeymoon BDC LTD; Hourglass BDC LTD; In-to-in BDC LTD; JJC BDC LTD; Looking and Seeing BDC LTD; Lovers BDC LTD; Pros and Cons BDC LTD; and Rice and Beans BDC LTD.
Also on the list are Select and Pay BDC LTD; Set up BDC LTD; SIX Six Six BDC LTD; Slow Down BDC LTD; You and Me BDC LTD; Young Free & Single BDC LTD; Zero to Ten BDC LTD; and 35. 10-20 Times BDC LTD.
There have been calls on the CBN to cut down the number of BDCs in the country.
In 2023, president of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) Aminu Gwadabe, called on the CBN to reduce the number of licensed BDCs in country, saying the current number was too much for the CBN to monitor and supervise effectively.
Presidential Adviser on Economic Affairs, Tope Fasua, had also in September 2023, advocated a reduction in the number of BDCs by 95 per cent, citing supervisory issues, which leads to irregularities in the forex market.
Recently, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) called on the CBN to reduce the number of BDC operators in the country. The association had made similar calls earlier in the year.
In July 2023, the CBN confirmed a list of 5,687 BDCs
In 2022, the CBN published a similar list in a document with reference: REF: FPR/DIR/PUB/CIR/001/03, titled, ‘List of CBN licenced Bureaux De Change as at December 31, 2021’ where the CBN had approved 5,689 dealers.
The operators had grown from 74 in 2005 to 5,689 in 2021.
