Since going into effect on 1 June, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s 4th Foreign Exchange Manual marks a major step in the CBN’s effort to replace discretion with clearer rules, transparency and accountability in the FX market. Issued eight years after the previous edition, the revised manual responds to systemic stresses exposed by the pandemic, oil-price swings and prior exchange-rate reforms, and aims to align FX administration with current economic realities.
CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso framed the update as essential for price stability, capital flows and investor confidence, while Deputy Governor Muhammad Abdullahi said the revision forms part of a broader reform agenda begun under the current administration. That agenda has already produced the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System and the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Code; the manual is intended to standardize procedures, clarify documentation, and strengthen oversight to reduce uncertainty and transaction frictions.
Practically, the manual introduces several operational changes: PTA and BTA disbursements will be 75% electronic and 25% cash; allowable import advance payments rise from 15% to 30%; Form NXP processing for exporters is now free; provisions cover service and tech-sector exports and Pan-African Payment and Settlement System transactions; and new account types—Non-Resident Investment and Non-Resident Ordinary Accounts—are created. Foreign extractive firms may repatriate 100% of export proceeds, and mandatory Form A verification for domiciliary-account remittances is removed, easing administrative burdens while retaining banks’ verification responsibilities. Tuition transfers up to $25,000 per semester and conditional transfers between export proceeds domiciliary accounts and ordinary domiciliary accounts are also permitted.
The CBN emphasizes that rules alone cannot reform the market—consistent enforcement and market discipline are crucial. Commercial banks, as intermediaries, will be central to implementing the manual; bank chiefs publicly backed the reforms at the launch, praising the focus on transparency, ethical conduct and credible price discovery. They stressed that sustained discipline among regulators and operators is necessary for reforms to translate into reliable FX supply and deeper liquidity.
The CBN and the federal government both framed the manual as part of a wider push for macroeconomic stability and investor confidence. Yet the CBN acknowledges that lasting improvements depend on complementary outcomes—higher export earnings, stronger reserves, and coherent fiscal and monetary policy—not just on clearer procedures. Ultimately, the manual’s success will hinge on consistent application across stakeholders, effective monitoring, and sustained cooperation between the CBN, banks and market participants to transform rules into predictable market practice.
