Business
CBN To Stop Some Importers From Accessing Bank Forex
The Central Bank of Ni
geria (CBN) says importers of rice, cement and other products will no longer access Foreign Exchange from CBN, Banks and Bureau De Change for such importation.
The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who disclosed this at a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja, said the measure would prevent further depletion of the country’s foreign reserve.
He said the country was spending huge amount to import things that could be produced locally.
Emefiele said the apex bank would not continue to support the importation of such items through the use of the hard earned foreign exchange.
Some of the products include margarine, palm kernel, palm oil products, meat and processed meat products, vegetables, private airplanes and jets, Indian incense, tinned fish, galvanised steel sheet, roofing sheet and furniture.
“Importers who may want to continue importing these goods would have to sort their foreign exchange from their own private sources.
“The CBN will continue to be vigilant around this policy, keep reviewing the list of items as it becomes comfortable that these items can be produced locally if we apply ourselves sufficiently.
“This policy change is in line with the believe that Nigeria cannot attain its true potentials by simply importing everything into the country.
“We have to decide what we really want for our country and I believe that the time is now for that deep and honest conversation,’’ he said.
He said in spite of relative positive GDP growth over the past seven years, there was no corresponding reduction in unemployment and poverty.
He said bank’s analyses of the situation had compelled it to put to a stop forex access to some of these goods to encourage local production and consumption for economic development.
He also said that the Federal Government was spending about N1.3 trillion on the average annually to import rice, fish, sugar and wheat.
“Why should we continue importing rice into Nigeria when vast amount of paddy rice produced by local farmers across rice belts are being wasted and ignored.
“What will it take for these importers to stop importation and go into processing this locally produced rice.
“Why are they not utilising large expands of arable lands for cultivation instead of importing rice into the country,’’ he said.
Emefiele said that Nigeria had been creating jobs for other countries, while importing rice into the country.
He said it was unfortunate that sardines, tooth picks, among others, were imported into the country.
Emefele said the apex bank had no power to ban the importation of the items, but noted that it would work hard to ensure support for local production.
He said local production would reduce poverty, unemployment and pressure on the reserve.
“I believe that the current situation we found ourselves affords us a unique opportunity to embrace self-sufficiency in Nigeria.
“We should also reduce our appetite for everything and anything foreign, conserve reserve and create jobs at home for our people.
“With full complement of the bank management, we would continue to look for areas which the bank can play a catalytic financial role to achieve the goal in the near future,’’ he said.
On lifting of ban on importation of textiles and furniture by the Nigeria Customs, he said CBN would not provide foreign exchange for people that would want to import such products.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
