Travelex, Nigeria’s ally in development

The confidence of the world’s number one brand in retail foreign exchange, Travelex, in Nigeria is growing. As an indication of its clear resolve to develop world-class financial services in the country, the company has in the past two years invested over £1million (about N240 million) in infrastructure, human capital development and equipment in its Nigerian operation aimed to ensure smooth foreign exchange services to the Nigerian financial system. It is noteworthy that Travelex is poised to invest further in Nigeria.

In a discussion in Lagos at the weekend, Mark Smith, director, Sales and Bank Notes, Travelex Group UK Ltd., exuded confidence when he disclosed that the £1 million investment is a testimony to the group’s commitment to expanding and modernising foreign exchange transactions in Nigeria.

“Travelex has invested £1 million in Nigeria in the last two years in an effort to build a world-class service in the country and we are investing further. We want to open more bureau de change (BDC) offices in airports across the country,” Smith said, expressing optimism that the investment will yield the desired result. The company also hopes to bring more products and services for the BDCs.

In the area of solving the unemployment problem of the country, the company has not been found wanting. It has indeed helped a great deal. Travelex is employing more and more Nigerians, and its success and commitment is likely to attract more British companies to come and do business in Nigeria.

The company is not yet done, it plans to invest more. The company will build six new BDCs to be located in the new-look airports in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. This project is designed to enhance smooth forex services to Nigeria’s increasing international passenger traffic trade and also offer quality services and employment to more than 100 Nigerians in the short term.

Although the Nigerian business environment, like many others around the world, remains quite challenging, Travelex maintains that its experience in the Nigerian economy is good and worthwhile.

“The cost of doing business here is high because of infrastructural challenges. We know it is not easy but we can’t give up because we know it will be worthwhile in the long run. We are determined to continue doing business in the country,” Smith re-assured.

The company recently strengthened its strategic partnership (outsourcing) with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The result of the partnership is the establishment of high technology cash distribution centre with a pilot scheme in Lagos and with a plan to roll out in other parts of the country to process the forex requirements of BDCs. The CBN partnership is buoyed up by confidence in Travelex’s global experience and reach as the world’s leading foreign exchange specialist and the leading supplier of outsourced foreign currency services.

The pilot rollout of the centres took place in Lagos last Wednesday. The initial phase of the rollout is planned for Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano. The Lagos centre is already operational with 920 out of 944 BDCs order placed, recording smooth transactions within two and half hours. The rest will enjoy the service after perfecting their registration into the service which is entirely an electronic system. It’s a leap from manual to technological update.

Tony Enwereji, general manager, Travelex Nigeria, said the cash distribution centres project is a migration away from the manual to an electronic service system. It is a system-managed process that ensures transactions are fully automated. This effort is geared towards bringing BDCs in Nigeria into a world of International best practices.

“This is quicker, faster and more efficient. It requires biometric identification (finger prints) of the BDC operators and a card to gain access with every detail, including the picture tracked. The system has a quick audit trail and takes a maximum of 32 seconds to process a request. The system is automated, no manual overwrite, there is also provision to confirm and count your cash,” Enwereji stated, adding that in all, compliance is critical to Travelex and they hope to improve and resolve any issue that arises from the pilot exercise.

Travelex is currently trading in over 80 currencies and does business in over 50 countries (including Nigeria), helping more than 37 million customers to send and spend money around the world. It is present in over 100 airports globally, including 20 of the world’s 30 busiest airports like London, New York, Paris, Dubai, Atlanta, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Sydney, Hong Kong and Beijing.

OKECHUKWU SUNDAY

Sunday, a public affairs commentator, writes from Lagos.