Business

Concerns Mount Over Airfare On Lagos-London Route

Published

3 years ago

December 2, 2022

Lagos travellers pay 439% more

•Why we charge different fares from Nigeria-London — BA

Passengers travelling from Lagos to London in the coming days might be forced to travel through Abuja to their destination.

This is coming on the heels of massive differential in airfares for passengers travelling to Heathrow Airport, London through Lagos and those going through Abuja.

Findings by Vanguard Aviation World show that passengers flying on one-way economy ticket through Abuja on British Airways, BA, pay $501 (about N222,093) while those travelling through Lagos on the same airline and ticket class pay as much as $2,700 (about N1,196,910)

Also, passengers travelling through Ethiopian Airline on one-way economy ticket through Abuja pay N700,000, while those going through Lagos on the same airline and ticket class pay as much as N2.8million.

The fare differentials, according to industry operators may not be unconnected to demand and supply differentials but also noted that the distance is almost same for the two routes.

Vanguard gathered that flights from London to Abuja take six hours, and 20 minutes, while flights to Lagos from London take six hours and 25 minutes.

Though Air France maintains same fares from both routes the amount is also high at $2,141 (about …) on similar ticket class for a one-way journey.

Passengers’ reactions
A traveller who spoke to Vanguard about the development lamented her amazement to the development.

According to her, “I was to travel to London next week. So in a bid to ensure i pay less, I open the booking portal of BA, I was in Abuja and I mistakenly clicked on Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, and i was taken to the price to my amazement, the price i saw there was $2,700 I was shocked.

“I had to check very well to see if i had punched something odd. I realised I inputted Lagos instead of Abuja. So I had to readjust and the price I finally saw was far lower. This was quite outrageous as it was not supposed to be so.”

Another traveller who spoke to Vanguard Aviation World, said: “Why will Ethiopian Airline, and Africa airline put their airfare to London this high? I was expecting their price to be lesser than others but I was wrong.

“Even the price in Lagos differs by a far margin. Why would it be so?

“The ministry responsible should look into it, as for me it can only be attributed to extortion.”

Why our airfares differ in Nigeria – BA

Speaking to Vanguard Aviation World on the situation, BA’s Spokesperson, Josephine Simmons, explained that airfares can differ due to availability, airport taxes and other factors.

She stated: “Prices differ by airport due to numerous factors including customer demand and fare charges – including airport taxes.

“Most customers book their flights in advance, benefiting from competitive fares.”

Other stakeholders comment
The development has created a series of reactions from both stakeholders and travellers across the country.

While some stakeholders attributed the development to the exploitation of Nigeria’s passengers, others stated that the less demand in Abuja was strengthened by the security challenges.

According to the Principal Partner, Avaero Capital, Sindy Foster, the development possibly might be due to more demand than supply in Lagos.

“If BA had more demand from Abuja price would probably be higher. Most people are not flying direct between Abuja and London. I expect demand for Abuja went down due to security issues.”

Flights tend to be lower if there is more supply against demand. It is good that prices have come down in Abuja. Will be interesting to work out why they are still high in Lagos. I suspect there is less demand for Abuja.

The chairman of United Nigeria Airline, Obiora Okonkwo, said: “Why do foreign airlines charge Nigeria so much?

“In the aviation industry, one-hour flight fuel consumption is the same, the only difference is maybe different landing charges in London or Ghana, the rest is the same.

“I can assure you that if Air Peace goes to London today, Nigerians will fly to London with an Economy ticket of N500,000. Today the price is about N2 million, why should we pay such if they are converting from N450 to $1?

“We owe Nigerians this explanation. However, whatever is going on, this is a wake-up call that the local operators have to be supported as they have all it takes to operate internationally.

“Emirates have over $5 billion in support from their government. When we ask for support, it is not free, we pay back. American Airlines have equity of over $60 billion and a debt profile of $70 billion and those debts all come from government support.

“If the local airlines are supported, we can have the capacity that cannot be threatened globally. The easiest flight to operate is a long haul. Short haul is even more difficult as it is stressful to both the aircraft and cabin crew.

“It is even easier to go to London, aviation is the same globally, you are audited by IOSA, IATA and that is, they prevented us and make us looks bad.

“They are also aware that our quality and regulatory standards are high. We get crews and captains coming to Nigeria and they fail our exams and we send them back.”

Foreign airlines frequency in Nigeria
It would be recalled that Nigeria, a destination of over 22 foreign carriers, manages Bilateral Air Services Agreements, BASA, with over 78 countries.

These airlines operate daily, and weekly in Nigeria.

Ethiopian and ASKY, Togolese airline also operated by Ethiopian Airline, together operate 54 frequencies weekly in Nigeria.

African World Airways (AWA) has 49 frequencies per week; British Airways and Virgin Atlantic operate 21 frequencies weekly into Nigeria; EgyptAir with 16; Air France 15; Saudi Arabian Airways 13; Emirates 11; Lufthansa 11; Air Cote d’Ivoire10; Qatar 9; South African Airways 7.

Others were Delta, Royal Air Maroc, RwandAir, Sudan Airways, and Turkish Airways, which enjoy seven frequencies without reciprocity from Nigerian airlines.

Also, Etihad has five frequencies; Fly Mid Africa has four; Middle East Airlines – has four and Air Italy formerly Meridiana has three weekly flights to the country.

Business

Full List: 82 Newly Approved, Fully Licensed BDC Operators

Published

2 days ago

December 9, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted final operating licences to 82 Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators under its revised regulatory framework, reinforcing warnings against transactions with unlicensed foreign exchange dealers.

In a statement on Monday, the Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi-Ali, confirmed that the licences took effect on November 27, 2025, in accordance with the 2024 Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for BDC Operations. The guidelines require all operators to meet specified capital thresholds and regulatory conditions to qualify for licensing.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria, in exercise of its powers under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 and the 2024 Guidelines, has granted final licences to 82 Bureaux De Change to operate with effect from November 27, 2025,” the statement read.

The apex bank emphasised that only BDCs listed on its official website are considered fully licensed, urging the public to verify the status of any operator before engaging in foreign exchange transactions.

“While the CBN will continue to update the list of Bureaux De Change with valid operating licences for public verification on our website, the Bank advises the general public to avoid dealing with unlicensed Foreign Exchange Operators,” the statement warned.

The CBN noted that operating a BDC without a valid licence constitutes an offence under Section 57(1) of the BOFIA 2020, and confirmed that legal action would be taken against non-compliant operators.

TIER 1

1 DULA GLOBAL BDC LTD

2 TRURATE GLOBAL BDC LTD

TIER 2

1 ABBUFX BDC LTD

2 ACHA GLOBAL BDC LTD

3 ARCTANGENT SWIFT BDC LTD

4 ASCENDANT BDC LTD

5 BARACAI BDC LTD

6 BERGPOINT BDC LTD

7 BRAVO MODEL BDC LTD

8 BRIMESTONE BDC LTD

9 BROWNSTON BDC LTD

10 BUZZWALLET BDC LTD

11 CASHCODE BDC LTD

12 CHATTERED BDC LTD

13 CHRONICLES BDC LTD

14 COOL FOREX BDC LTD

15 CORPORATE EXCHANGE BDC LTD

16 COURTESY CURRENCY BDC LTD

17 DANYARO BDC LTD

18 DASHAD BDC LTD

19 DEVAL BDC LTD

20 DFS BDC LTD

21 EASY CASH BDC LTD

22 ELELEM BDC LTD

23 E-LIOYDS BDC LTD

24 ELOGOZ BDC LTD

25 ENOUF BDC LTD

26 EVER JOJ GOLD BDC LTD

27 EXCEL RIJIYA FOREX BDC LTD

28 FABFOREX BDC LTD

29 FELLOM BDC LTD

30 FINE BDC LTD

31 FOMAT BDC LTD

32 GENELO BDC LTD

33 GENTLE BREEZE BDC LTD

34 GRACEFUL GLORY AND HUMILITY BDC LTD

35 GREENGATE BDC LTD

36 GREENVAULT BDC LTD

37 HAZON CAPITAL BDC LTD

38 HIGH-POINT BDC LTD

39 I & I EXCHANGE BDC LTD

40 IBN MARYAM BDC LTD

41 JOURNEY WELL BDC LTD

42 KEEPERS BDC LTD

43 KHADHOUSE SOLUTIONS BDC LTD

44 KIMMELFX BDC LTD

45 KINGSOFT ATLANTIC BDC LTD

46 M.S. ALHERI BDC LTD

47 MASTERS BDC LTD

48 MCMENA BDC LTD

49 MKOO BDC LTD

50 MKS BDC LTD

51 MR J GOLF BDC LTD

52 MUSDIQ BDC LTD

53 MZ FOREX BDC LTD

54 NEJJ BDC LTD LTD

55 NETVALUE BDC LTD

56 NEW WAVE BDC LTD

57 NOTABLE AND KINGSTON BDC LTD

58 PILCROW BDC LTD

59 RAPID BDC LTD

60 RIGHTWAY BDC LTD

61 RWANDA BDC LTD

62 SABLES BDC LTD

63 SAFETRANZ BDC LTD

64 SAMFIK BDC LTD

65 SEVENLOCKS BDC LTD

66 SHAPEARL BDC LTD

67 SIMTEX BDC LTD

68 SOLID WHITE BDC LTD

69 ST. NICHOLAS GLOBAL BDC LTD

70 TOPFIRST UNIQUE MULTICHOICE BDC LTD

71 TOPGATE BDC LTD

72 TRAVELLER’S CHOICE BDC LTD

73 TUCA GLOBAL BDC LTD

74 TURBOVA BDC LTD

75 TURN-UP BDC LTD

76 UNIGO BDC LTD

77 VICTORY AHEAD BDC LTD

78 WHITEWAY WWW BDC LTD

79 YUND GLOBAL LINK BDC LTD

80 ZAMAD FOREX BDC LTD

Business

CBN Issues 82 New BDC Licences, Moves To Curb Unregistered FX Operators

Published

2 days ago

December 9, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted final operating licences to 82 Bureaux De Change (BDC) under its updated regulatory framework and cautioned members of the public against engaging with unlicensed foreign exchange operators.

In a statement issued on Monday and signed by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi-Ali, the Bank said the licences became effective on 27 November 2025. The approvals were granted under the 2024 Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for BDC Operations in Nigeria.

The CBN stressed that only BDCs listed on its official website are recognised as licensed operators. It encouraged the public to verify the licensing status of BDCs before engaging in any foreign exchange transactions.

The Bank reiterated that running a BDC without proper authorisation constitutes an offence under Section 57(1) of the BOFIA 2020. It stated that enforcement actions would be taken against violators.

The licensing exercise forms part of the CBN’s broader initiative to reform the foreign exchange market and ensure that only compliant operators participate in the sector. Under the 2024 guidelines, which took effect in June 2024,
all BDCs are required to reapply for Tier 1 or Tier 2 licences.

The guidelines stipulate minimum capital requirements of ₦2 billion for Tier 1 and ₦500 million for Tier 2, along with non-refundable licensing fees of ₦5 million and ₦2 million, respectively.

The CBN said it would continue its efforts to maintain order and transparency in the foreign exchange market.

Business

JUST IN: CBN Removes Cash Deposit Limits, Raises Weekly Withdrawal To N500,000

Published

7 days ago

December 3, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has removed cash deposit limits and also increased the weekly cash withdrawal limit from N100,000 to N500,000.

The CBN made this known in a circular to all banks and other financial institutions, signed by Dr Rita Sike, Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department.

Sike said that the revisions formed part of ongoing efforts to moderate the rising cost of cash management and address security concerns.

According to her, it will also curb money laundering risks associated with heavy reliance on cash.

She said that the cash-related policies previously issued in response to evolving circumstances were aimed at reducing cash usage and promoting the adoption of electronic payment channels.

“However, with time, the need to streamline and update these provisions to reflect present-day realities became necessary,” she said.

She said that with effect from Jan. 1, 2026, the cumulative deposit limit would be removed and the fee previously charged on excess deposits would no longer apply.

The director said that the cumulative weekly withdrawal limit across all channels has been reviewed to N500,000 for individuals and five million Naira for corporates.

“Withdrawals above these thresholds will attract excess withdrawal charges as specified,” she said. “The special monthly authorisation that allowed individuals to withdraw five million Naira and corporates N10 million once a month has been abolished.”

She said that for Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), daily withdrawal remains capped at N100,000 per customer, with a maximum of N500,000 weekly.

She said that this formed part of the overall weekly withdrawal limit applicable to all channels, including point-of-sale (POS) transactions.

Sike said that excess withdrawals above the stipulated limits would attract three per cent for individuals and five per cent for corporate customers.

According to her, this will be shared in the ratio of 40 per cent to the CBN and 60 per cent to the operating bank or financial institution.

She directed banks to load all currency denominations in ATMs, while the existing limit on over-the-counter encashment of third-party cheques remains pegged at N100,000.

Sike said that such withdrawals would be counted as part of the cumulative weekly limit.

The director said that banks were also required to render monthly returns to the relevant supervisory departments.

She listed the departments to include the Banking Supervision Department, Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, and the Payments System Supervision Department.

Sike said that revenue-generating accounts of federal, state, and local governments were exempted from the new withdrawal rules.

She said that accounts of microfinance banks and primary mortgage banks held with commercial and non-interest banks are also exempted from the new rules.

She, however, said that the long-standing exemption previously enjoyed by embassies, diplomatic missions, and aid-donor agencies had been removed.