Africa-Press Nigeria:
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has said that electronic transaction volumes increased by about 67 per cent during the COVID-19 lockdown with increased transactions at agent networks.
This is contained in a statement issued by Nelson Olagundoye, Head, Corporate Communication and External Relation, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos on Thursday.
Mr Olagundoye quoted Mr Emefiele as saying this during the 20th edition of the National Seminar on Banking and Allied Matters for Judges.
The seminar was organised by the CIBN, in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI), under the auspices of the Bankers Committee of CBN.
Mr Emefiele was represented by the Deputy Governor of CBN, Aisha Ahmad, at the seminar.
The CBN governor said the payment system infrastructure accommodated the surge as more citizens moved to electronic channels.
He said the banking and payments system was able to retain its operational resilience, maintaining availability of electronic payment and mobile banking channels.
Mr Emefiele, who highlighted the role of technology, noted that this was in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ‘’unraveled itself as a global health and economic crisis of seismic proportions’’.
He said that domestic and international travel and global trade value chains had suffered severe disruptions, with significant negative impact on financial markets, financial services industry, oil and gas, health, transport & aviation, education, hospitality and tourism, to mention just a few.
