There's Still Scarcity Of Cash In Nigeria!

_{Torsten Dettlaff}

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If you can remember a few posts back when I wrote Unago C. Shege and its Sequel, I talked about how our government had given us new notes in a bid to move more of us to make cashless transactions.

Well, the deadline for old notes was yesterday, the 10th of February. And this means that as of this morning, the 11th day of February, the old notes have become obsolete. They have basically expired. All over the country, no one is collecting them anymore, if you are not giving the new notes, then whatever you are selling or buying will not happen.

And right now, as I am speaking to you, there is no money in the streets. All over the country banks have been closing down due to incessant attacks by mobs. A lot of people have had their monies wiped from their accounts, many more are not given access to their money. And then, added to that, there is no cash available.

Over this week, many banks closed down and this is only making the matter worse because no more money for us. The little money we were getting was from the bank, and now that they are closing left and right, even that would not be coming through.

_{Nicola Barts}

I was walking around my area today, trying to make a withdrawal and I couldn’t. From ATMs to POS points, no one had cash. The ones that did have cash said they had only old notes. Why would I want to take old notes when I know they were no longer to be accepted?

I spent the last few days spending all my old notes so they would not expire in my possession. Unfortunately, the old notes were the only notes I had with me. And I spent the last of it this evening. As I am talking to you right now, the only cash I have on me is N50. And even that one I am hoarding it like gold.

The only thing I’ve seen that is good from all this fiasco is that people are now going digital, just like the CBN planned. Today I bought something and I made a transfer of N150. If you are serious about selling, just as we are serious about buying, you will change your policy and start accepting transfers.

From what I can see of this, more businesses will have POS, and you will be able to make payments via cards. And even the littlest of things like sachet water, stick sweet and sachet milk will be paid for with a card. For now, we are still making do with mobile transfer on our phones. The downside is having to wait for the trader to receive the alert before you can leave with your goods. But once you are using the card, you won’t need an alert to confirm it.

_{Mikhail Nilov}

But then, in as much as this is a welcome development, there are still things that can’t be paid for via cards for now. Like today I did a lot of trekking, just because I had no cash to pay the bike man. It’s not like these guys carry a POS machine along with them everywhere they go, or they will be willing to wait for the long period of time it takes to run and confirm transfers. It’s just tiring, seriously.

And as it stands, I have no idea how the coming days will be. I hope Monday will be better, I hope we would be able to see a little cash to at least perform menial tasks around us. We can run the following digitally.

We are entering a new phase, it is taking its toll. But let’s not be distracted or dissuaded. The main issue at hand is still the coming elections. February 25th is around the corner, get your PVC and when that day comes remember to go out and vote. Remember to vote in good governance so that this madness we are going through will not repeat itself.

We have been through enough.

_{Victor Freitas}

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_{Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below, I would love to know what you are thinking. Till we meet in the next post.}

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