The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) deadline for Bureau De Change (BDC) operators to meet new recapitalization requirements officially expired on Tuesday May 3, 2025, reigniting urgent calls from industry stakeholders for an extension. 

If the CBN declines to grant further extensions or revise capital benchmarks, it is anticipated that a significant number of BDC licenses will be revoked, triggering mass layoffs and potentially diverting forex transactions to parallel or informal channels.

The Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) warns that failure to grant additional time and reassess the stringent share capital thresholds could imperil an estimated three million jobs and inflict widespread economic disruption. 

President of ABCON, Dr. Aminu Gwadabe, appealed to the CBN to reconsider the June 3, 2025, cutoff and adjust the licensing requirements to reflect the operational realities of the BDC sector.

“With less than 5 per cent of licensed currency traders meeting the revised benchmark, the anxiety within our ranks is palpable,” Gwadabe explained. 

“We urgently seek a further extension and a deliberate review of the financial obligations imposed on our members.”

In May 2024, the CBN significantly raised the minimum share capital requirements for BDC operators. 

Under the new guidelines, Tier 1 licensees must now hold at least N2 billion in share capital, while Tier 2 operators are required to maintain a minimum of N500 million.

These figures represent a substantial escalation from the previous N35 million minimum for a general license, effectively altering the entry and survival landscape for many small and medium-sized currency traders. 

The CBN extended the initial recapitalization deadline by six months in November 2024, rescheduling the final compliance date to June 3, 2025.

Despite this reprieve, ABCON says only a fraction of operators—fewer than one in twenty—have successfully met the new requirements.

Industry sources estimate that over three million jobs—spanning licensed operators, their staff, auxiliary service providers, and informal currency traders—could be jeopardized if thousands of BDCs are forced to shut down.