Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to grow diaspora reserves to $1 billion by 2026.
Gatekeepers News reports that Olayemi Cardoso, governor of CBN, made the announcement on Tuesday at the 18th annual banking and finance conference in Abuja.
The two-day event which was organised by Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) is themed “The New Economic Playbook: The Intersection of Banking, Policy and Technology.”
Cardoso noted that the current diaspora reserve stands at $600 million, adding that the CBN has created the necessary framework to achieve the target.
He said, “It is now over to the banks to make this happen.”
“I want to commend all the banks that are driving this including Zenith, Access, Fidelity, all of them because they are many.”
“I am taking a special interest in this thing and I want that to continue because it speaks volume and makes a huge difference on how our people in the diaspora see us.”
In December 2024, the CBN revealed that diaspora remittances through international money transfer operators (IMTOs) hit $4.22 billion between January and October 2024 — a 61 percent increase compared to the previous year.
On May 13, the apex bank, in partnership with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), launched the non-resident bank verification number (NRBVN) platform to expand access to financial services for Nigerians living abroad.
