Dollar is scarce in Nigeria due to the poor state of the country’s economy and the CBN is tightly control it’s exchange.

The CBN set the official exchange rate of dollar to naira at around N415/$ – this is the rate at which the apex bank sells to commercial banks who in turn sell to their customers at a similar rate. But getting dollar at this rate or at all from your local commercial banks will take more than a smile.

Earlier this month, most commercial banks notified their customers that their will be a reduction in the amount of dollar available to each customer per month – most reduced it from an average of $100 monthly to now less than $20 monthly for customers with Naira debit cards. The CBN further announced a reduction in both Personal Travel Allowance PTA and Business Travel Allowance BTA.

All these is as a result of the Nigerian economy not being diversified and the dollar scarcity that has been plaguing the country for a while now. And if you’re a freelancer or anyone in need of dollars for your business, all these can be an encumbrance.

Luckily, there’s a little work around you can use to get as much dollar as you need. Tho at a much higher rate but you get all the dollar you need.

How to Exchange naira for dollar

Firstly, if you need dollar to import anything into the country or you need it for other legitimate purposes, you should try getting it from your bank first. The official exchange rate at the bank will be around N415/$ compared to the almost N580/$ you will get it otherwise. You stand to loose almost 160/$. Meaning if you exchange $100 you would pay an extra N16,000 and you pay an extra N160,000 for every $1000 you buy from the black market. Due to the high volatility of the exchange rates, see the current CBN and Aboki exchange rates.

If you’ve tried your bank and you don’t qualify for the official exchange rate or you need more than the bank is offering, here’s what to do;

open a domiciliary account

Walk into any commercial bank of your choice and ask them to open a dollar domiciliary account for you. It’s just the same requirements and process as opening your normal naira account but you’ll have to provide two sureties who have a current account to stand as a guarantor for you. This suretie requirement is the hardest part about owning a domiciliary account but once you get past it you have a fully functioning domiciliary account. The account comes with a debit card for online or other web transactions.

Buy dollar at the black market

Ones you have a functional domiciliary account, you can buy dollar from the black market for use. The black market are unofficial currency exchangers popularly called Aboki in Nigeria. They are usually located at the airport and major hotels in cities across Nigeria. You can simply google their location for your city. The one disadvantage of buying dollar from the black market is that the sell at a much higher rate compared to the official market as earlier explained. You might be paying upto #580/$ as at against the official exchange rate of #415/$.

Deposit your dollars and spend

Ones you exchanged your naira for dollar from Aboki, you can deposit it in your domiciliary account if you have the need to. You can deposit the dollar through thesame process you would naira at The bank, tho via a different counter. But ones you make the deposit you can then spend the dollar with your debit card online.

In conclusion

If you have a need to pay for stuff with dollar online but only have the naira equivalent, these work around might be for you. Banks limit the amount of dollar each customer can purchase with their naira debit cards directly, it’s less than $50 monthly for each customer. If you have the need to spend more dollars to pay for goods and services online and your bank doesn’t provide you with the official exchange rate, here’s what to do.

Open a domiciliary account, buy dollars from the black market, deposit same in your domiciliary account and start spending with your dollar debit card!

The post How to buy dollar (USD) with Naira in Nigeria appeared first on AFRICA EXPLAINED.

Dollar to Naira exchange rate at the black market today, Monday 14 February is ₦570/$1 buying rate and N575/$1 selling rate according to bureau de change operators in Lagos and Abuja. The ₦570/$1 rate is a recent development following the CBN governor announcement that the apex bank would no longer sell forex to commercial banks, instead the banks would have to source for forex from the proceed of export.

CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele was quoted as saying “The era is coming to an end when, because your customers need 100million dollars in foreign exchange or 200 million dollars, you now want to pack all the dollars and pass it to CBN to give you dollars.

“It is coming to an end before or by the end of this year. We will tell them don’t come to the Central Bank for foreign exchange again, go and generate your export proceeds.”

However, in a report by Nairametrics, a different CBN official clarified the governor’s comment saying it was only a hypothetical statement.

But the damage has already been done, the earlier report pushed the Naira from #560/$ it has maintained since Christmas to #570/$ within hours.

Earlier in January, the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN took a step towards devaluing the naira when it adopted the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window rate – the naira jumped from N411.73/$1 which it has been for months to N427/$1 at the official CBN controlled market.

The CBN accused bureau de change operators of arbitrarily fixing the exchange rate of the Naira to their personal advantage and stopped selling forex to them, but months since the apex bank banned them from the official forex market, the naira is still yet to make much significant gains.

What does the official rate mean?

The official rate is the exchange rate approved by the CBN – the Central Bank of Nigeria is the sole regulator of Naira and determines the exchange rate. About 6 months ago, the CBN banned the activities of Bureau DE Change operators and ordered banks to take over the buying and selling of foreign currencies in the country. The CBN is selling FX directly to the banks so they can in turn sell to end users in an attempt to control the price of Forex. The price at which the CBN is selling is called the official rate.

To get the official rate, which is much lower than the parallel market rate, you have to go through the licensed commercial banks in the country. It makes sense to buy at the official rate, but if you are selling you might want to consider the parallel market.

Why do people buy currency at the black market?

People buy currency at the black market because getting currency at the official rate from commercial banks is extremely difficult. The banks also have a limit of $5000 as personal allowance for travellers and $10000 as business travel allowance. Untop of that plenty of paperwork is required and most times some banks simply claim they don’t have foreign currency.

That is if you’re buying, if you’re selling the banks buy your Dollar at #417/1$ while the black market buy same at #570/1$. Selling dollar at the black market for those who earn in Dollars such as bloggers, YouTubers and other freelancers makes more sense as they get a high price.

How to find black market bureau de change operators in Nigeria

Like everything that involves financial transactions, one needs to be very careful when dealing especially with Nigerians. Bureau de change operators can be found at the commercial district of every major city in Nigeria. They can also be found at airports and some major hotels in cities. These operators are usually of Hausa ethnicity, hence the name Aboki.

As a safety precaution, make sure to always deal with operators that have a fixed address in a public shop, that way you can always find them in case something goes wrong.

If you are in Ilorin, black market bureau de change operators can be found inside Kwara Hotel complex along Ahmadu Bello Way, just before government house. The operators located there are tested and you can always trust them to give you a fair price.

The post Dollar To Naira Black Market Exchange Rate Today February 14 appeared first on AFRICA EXPLAINED.