Policy Making in Nigeria; How CBN Should Have Made us Go Cashless
While this has happened, I have decided to write on a flow that is seamless and tested to drive a painless process for Nigerians.
We all have stories of how the desire for cash has practically run the country backwards in a little over a week. From the unavailability of cash at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to Point of Sale (POS) Cash Out operators inflation of cash-out prices etc. This week has been hell for every average Nigerian.
All these have been because the Central Bank of Nigeria’s memo to the Managing Director of banks leaked to the public and chaos have been descended upon the common citizen since the purported deadline of the currency exchange policy.
This article is not designed to discuss the policy and its intricacies - far from it, rather it is written to discuss what could have been done better. The purpose of writing this is so everyone can learn, perhaps as a reader, you find yourself as the next CBN Director of Communications or the apex bank’s Governor; what you could have done better.
What should have happened
In the last 1 year, I cannot count the number of internal memos of the CBN which has been leaked to the press. The keyword here, internal is critical to highlight because it plays a role in the remainder of this article.
As this has become a trend and internal communications have been turned to external communications - a prosecutable action in itself by the laws of the civil service btw.
I expect that this should have been envisaged and another means of communication should have been used to communicate this policy change, while the official document is jealously guarded with oaths of secrecy and allegiance re-sworn to the apex bank throughout the process.
This should be a 1-year long action
Because cash is king in Nigeria! Anyone who says otherwise is living in deceit and it has become a culture for people to use cash as a means of value exchange, even when the CBN tried to introduce the digital version of the currency - it was a failure.
This implies that this is a CULTURE for Nigerians and to change the way of life, you need to be STRATEGIC and EMPHATETIC in whatever approach you decide to employ.
If I was the CBN Governor or the Director of Communications, I would do the following
Call for a physical meeting to discuss the plan with the MDs of banks and give strict instructions on the confidentiality and institute consequences of its leak thereof - especially because there is a history of leaks which puts panic and fear in the minds of citizens.
Draw up a 1-year long plan in 3 phases with Phase 1 being for 4 months; in this phase, we would instruct the banks to only pay out to customers in 100 and below denominations. The CBN would no longer give them denominations from 200 and above and also use this period to exchange their own currencies in these denominations. Phase 2 would witness an exchange between customers and the bank. In this case, all the banks would be compelled to throw their doors open during weekends, especially for those who need to go to work, so they can exchange their currency. At this point, ALL POS agents have been designed for interoperability with the eNaira as well as Mobile money accounts. In this phase, merchants are incentivized to receive collections using both channels; the CBN can bear the cost of transaction charges which the PTSPs,PSSPs, Issuer etc would typically split. In phase 3 which would also last for 4 months, Nigerians would be able to exchange their old notes from the bank but not use them as legal tender - which should ideally be the norm.
During this entire 1 year, the Director of Strategic Communications needs to have engaged a proper communications agency - not one propped up to siphon money as it seems to be the case where teaser communications, launch and post-launch communications are properly identified and deployed. During this phase, the agency must deploy positive, reaffirming and reassuring messages of calm, peace and comfort across the mass media (radio, TV and newspaper). It must also work with key opinion leaders in the different geopolitical zones in the country, and religious and traditional leaders who are key stakeholders in various stakeholder forums held across the country.
Lessons for policymakers across the board
In a multiethnic, multi-belief and multicultural country like Nigeria, launching a policy is akin to launching a product, it takes intentionality and all forms of seriousness due to internal saboteurs who would seek every avenue to take advantage of the situation to cash out.