Telcos Lament Forex Scarcity, Seek CBN Intervention

Operators in the telecommunications industry are seeking special consideration to enable them get access to more foreign exchange. Some industry stakeholders said operators were struggling to get foreign exchange,and this had been responsible for some drop in service quality. The President of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, said stakeholders were seeking special intervention from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). We are hoping the CBN will soon begin to give special consideration to the Telcos. We’ve been trying to engage with them, to see how possible. We are also hoping the Nigerian Communication Commission will work with us and get the CBN on our side. It is one of the things the association is working on.” Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer of VDT Communications said the industry was import dependent, thus we need special forex intervention. MTN had recently disclosed that dearth of foreign exchange was hampering the repatriation of profits to shareholders of the company.