How can I get dollars in Nigeria? (A How-to Guide)
Looking for the best means to get dollars in Nigeria, I will explain everything you need to know on getting dollars in Nigeria.
Before going further into this article, I want you to know that it is not difficult to get dollars in Nigeria unless you want a huge amount of money.
How can I get dollars in Nigeria?
To get dollars in Nigeria, you can go to the bank or to any of the black market sellers and exchange naira to dollar.
You think it is quite difficult right?
But not really based on my experience.
Having said that, there are two major ways which you can get dollars in Nigeria or probably i should say exchange naira to dollars, and they are as follows;
- Through the bank
- Through the black market sellers
So I will explain the process of getting dollars here in Nigeria using any of the methods above.
1. Through commercial banks
This is one of the best ways to get dollars in Nigeria, but it doesn’t come cheap and entails lots of requirements.
Banks can only exchange naira to dollar for you if you have an existing naira account or even an active domiciliary account with them. Aside from that, there are three reasons which the bank requires from a customer before giving out dollars and they are as follows;
- As Personal Travel Allowance
- Business Travel Allowance
- Foreign School Fees Payment
The Personal Travel Allowance and Business Travel Allowance is very common especially for Business Travel Allowance.
Before going to the bank, you have have the necessary requirements though I will recommend you to first contact the bank and ask for their requirements cause it differs from bank to bank.
THE REQUIREMENTS
If you are applying for a Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA) payment, you have to fill a dully-filled Form A which you can download online or go to the bank and request for it.
Also, the bank requires a valid Nigerian Passport along with a valid visa. You will also have to provide an international return ticket (travel date must not be more than fourteen days from the date of dollar purchase).
For business travel allowance applicants must provide documents of Registration or Incorporation, and also a letter of invitation from their business partner overseas.
For those applying for foreign school fees payment should either be a parent or a guardian of the student.
For foreign school fees payment, applicants must provide a valid Bank verification number (BVN).
Foreign school fees payment applicants are also required to present the Applicant’s valid ID card, admission letter, a duly completed Form A, and a payment invoice.
This is all I know for now.
And this is why I recommend you to contact the bank and inquire their necessary requirements to get dollars from them.
Related Posts:
- How much does it cost to open a domiciliary account in Nigeria? Explained
- Can i receive dollars in my naira account? Explained
Advantages of getting dollars from the bank
YOU ARE GETTING ORIGINAL DOLLAR: This is one of the fears of people buying dollars here in Nigeria, the fear of getting a fake dollars. As long as you are buying the dollar from the bank, be rest assured that you are buying an original dollar and not a fake one.
THE BANK WILL NEVER CHEAT YOU: If you are not comfortable with other means of getting dollars in Nigeria due to the fact that they may cheat you, I recommend using any of available commercial bank as bank will never cheat you because they are regulated.
Disadvantages:
THE EXCHANGE RATE IS HIGH COMPARED TO BLACK MARKET: When it comes to buying dollars from the bank, the exchange rate is usually very high compared to when you are selling your dollars to them.
For example, if you want to use your naira account to receive dollars or inflow, the bank will exchange it $1 to N411 which is relatively low compared to the black market sellers.
Now if you want to buy dollars from the bank, the will issue it to you at the rate of N580 to $1 which is very high compared to when you are buying dollars from the bank.
This is one major reason why I don’t recommend using a naira account to receive money from abroad especially USD, Euro and pounds.
FUNDS ARE NOT ALWAYS AVAILABLE: One of the major disadvantage of going to the bank to buy dollar is that you may end up not receiving any dollar simply because there’s no available dollars in the bank.
This is very common and I have experienced this multiple times. Sometimes the bank will say the maximum dollar bill we will give to you is $500 and thar can’t be exceeded.
2. Buy dollars from the black market sellers
When you head buy dollars from the black market sellers, I’m talking about the aboki money exchange sellers or the bureau de change companies.
Their exchange rate is quite OK or moderate compared to the bank rate, but it comes with lots of risk.
If you can’t differentiate between a fake dollar and the original one, please you have to ignore the black market sellers especially if it is your very first time doing business with them.
I’m not saying they are bad but you may fall into the wrong hands especially if they noticed that you are a novice. If it is your very first time, please go with someone thar knows how to deal or do business with the black market sellers.
Talking about the exchange rate, as at this moment of writing this post, the black market sellers will exchange N560 to $1 which is quite moderate compared to the bank exchange rate.
The advantages:
- The exchange is very moderate and not inflicted.
- You can negotiate the exchange rate with the black market sellers.
- Funds are always available compared to banks.
The disadvantage
- It is quite risky especially if you are new and haven’t done business with the black market sellers.
How can i save in dollars in Nigeria
To save dollars in Nigeria, you have to go to the bank and open what is called a domiciliary account. Through the domiciliary account you can easily save dollars, pounds or euro here in your local bank account in Nigeria.
If you have never heard about domiciliary account before, I have already made a detailed post about domiciliary account in Nigeria and how it works. Kindly use the link to read about opening a Dom account in Nigeria which will help you to save dollars or any other currency in Nigeria.
Related Posts:
Where can i buy dollars in Nigeria?
There is no place in Nigeria thar you can borrow dollars, instead you can only buy dollars from the bank or from any of the black market sellers.
What you can borrow in Nigeria is the naira and there are lots of agencies that will lend you the amount you want including banks though banks will require a collateral.
This is where I come to the conclusion of this article, how can I get dollars in Nigeria. I’m open to your questions and suggestions thanks.
