Following the recent introduction of the cashless policy scheme by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stakeholders in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, especially the petroleum marketers and retailers at the depots, have commended the project saying that it has to a large extent helped in transacting their businesses.
Following the recent introduction of the cashless policy scheme by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stakeholders in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, especially the petroleum marketers and retailers at the depots, have commended the project saying that it has to a large extent helped in transacting their businesses.
In January, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had began a test-run of the ‘cashless economy’ project in Nigeria, beginning with Lagos, the country’s economic hub. The government had also issued licenses to five different companies to enhance the operability of the initiative.
While speaking on the assessment of the project so far in the downstream sector, a petroleum marketer, Mr. Fidel Aisodioune told Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week that the project has proved successful unlike formerly when marketers seeking to buy products from the tank farms usually go to the bank to face a endless queues before they can pay for their product.
Fidel said that sometimes it takes about three days for a cheque that is paid by a marketer to get cleared at the bank and that for these three days; you will remain stranded until the cheque is cleared before the product can be loaded from the tank farms.
Fidel said that, “at the beginning of the project, it seems it was going to have a negative effect on our operations, but as the implementation continued, we find out that all the bottlenecks we usually experience at the banks and the depots are no longer there, once you pay in your cash at the bank electronically, instantly you are cleared to load product, even if it is an inter-bank transaction, the highest it will take is 2hours”.
“So, to a large extent, the cashless policy has made transactions in the industry much easier because we are now doing everything electronically and on a high level” he said.
Fidel also said that the policy has protected marketers from losing their money because the business of buying and selling of product was usually characterized by moving of large amount of money at a particular time which usually leads to marketers being attacked by armed robbers before they get to the bank. He said that “before now, we use to hire some boys who will quietly move the money to where you want them to take it to, or sometimes when the money is very much we hire police officers to do it, all these are no more, it has saved us a lot of cost”, he confirmed.
Also speaking on the cost- saving benefit of the scheme, another marketer told Shipping Position Daily that with the introduction of the cashless policy, it has helped in putting an end to pilfering by some of the boys who are usually asked to go and deposit the money on behalf of marketers.
According to him, “you might not be able to count your money at the counter because it is usually in large quantities, but when you get to another bank where you want to pay in this money, you will find out that out of about N2.5million, N1,000 is missing from each bundle and the boys will claim they are not aware of it and that this is how they were given at the bank”, he said.
He however lamented that even though many of the marketers have keyed into the policy, many are yet to understand how the scheme works. He called for more enlightenment and campaign from the government.
Discussion about this post