Naija Lookbook: Money Sent Home Now Lands in Naira — No More Dollar Payout

Why you should care: As of May 1, the Central Bank of Nigeria requires every licensed money transfer operator — Western Union, MoneyGram, Remitly, and the rest — to pay recipients in naira only. The dollar-cash and domiciliary-dollar payout that families relied on is gone. Money you send arrives converted to naira at the official rate.

What changed and why: The CBN directive (effective May 1, signed by the Trade and Exchange Department) routes all remittance transactions through naira settlement accounts at authorised dealer banks. The stated aim is transparency and traceability — pulling dollar liquidity into channels the bank can see and price rather than the parallel market. Nigeria took in roughly $20 billion in remittances in 2024, so this targets one of the country’s biggest forex sources.

Practical impact on your people: Recipients no longer choose to hold the dollars and convert on their own terms. They get naira at the official conversion rate, exposing them to exchange-rate movement they didn’t control before. A recipient can still keep a domiciliary account, but the payout itself converts to naira on entry.

The question to ask before you send: What rate is your recipient actually getting, and what spread is the operator taking on the conversion? With payout now locked to naira, the rate and fees on your side determine how much value lands. Compare the all-in rate, not just the headline fee.

Signal: This is part of a wider CBN push to unify Nigeria’s FX market. Expect continued tightening; the trend is toward more visibility and fewer informal workarounds.

— TWB Newsroom