WHAT I LEARNT TRYING TO BUY DOLLAR IN NIGERIA

I have been trying to get some USD for some online transactions which have been an onerous task and have led me down a rabbit hole of some sort. I discovered a few things about arbitrage, foreign exchange, fintech, etc during this process which I am going to share in this post.

So it all started with me trying to find a way to pay for my Spotify subscription which I am still trying to figure out. I have tried all my cards, both virtual and physical, but none has worked. Spotify hasn't given any valid reason for declining my cards. I have been asked to try other cards but I think it is beyond that. I suspect this has to do with the CBN clampdown on foreign transactions to mitigate currency arbitrage and the death of the naira.

(by the way, if there is anyone who can add me to their Spotify plan, I would be grateful. I am willing to split the monthly subscription. I really need to listen to my favourite podcasts without those annoying ads)

THE MONEY GAME

I got to learn about arbitrage through cryptocurrency. However, I did not know there is a huge industry here in Nigeria where people buy and sell currencies. Not to sound naive, I do know people buy and sell currencies--for use. However, I never knew people did so just to exploit the loophole in the market. Do you wonder why your dollar purchase limit has been steadily dropping? Well, this could be one of the reasons.

Currently, it's a challenge getting dollars at the official CBN rate in Nigeria (By the way, congrats to the US dollar for being the most expensive or sought-after currency in the world--got that from my TikTok news). I recently opened a domiciliary account in order to get a dollar card. This will help me beat the $20 transaction limit on the naira debit cards.

The first challenge I encountered was/is funding the dom account. Now, the only sure way to get dollars is through online gigs from foreign currencies through Payoneer or PayPal. The other way is to buy through the parallel market which is insanely expensive. To put things into context, the official dollar/naira rate is 1/415, while the parallel market is 1/618. I can't even afford to make the payments I want.

However, considering that a dollar was 100 naira cheaper a couple of months ago, I wonder if I am making a mistake by stalling. Things are not looking good for the naira and it is my belief it will crash further. Plus, I am fed up with all these restrictions on my debit cards. I don't want to wake up one morning and not be able to make foreign transactions. So I am going to take the bull by the horn by getting some dollars in my dom account.

By the way, if you want to create a dom account in Nigeria, the easiest way to do so is through the ALAT app. I don't know how viable this will be in the long run so I will advise you to get one as soon as possible.

KYC PANDEMIC

During my search for cheap dollars, I discovered a lot of app/platforms offering good exchange rates. However, to get access to their service you need to provide some personal details. Some of these platforms are not properly registered and do not have a track record I can follow. Now I am not as naive as I was when I started my crypto journey, giving out my personal information to exchanges in other to have access to their platform. Considering the raise of internet fraud, one should be careful with the information they share, especially with these new fintech companies.

I was able to register on a few well-recommended and registered platforms to purchase US dollars. Unfortunately many of them were not offering their full services to countries like Nigeria.

CRYPTO DOESN'T SOLVE THIS PROBLEM

Unfortunately, there is not much crypto can do for me here. Most people/organisations are not willing to accept payment in crypto. Also, buying crypto, I still have to go through the fiat hassle, so it is almost impossible to miss.

I tried looking through Binance to see if I could get some dollars to my dom account, and although there were some options, they weren't options I could explore. Binance offers debit/card cards, but such services are not available in Nigeria.

I do hope a lot more people begin to see crypto as a viable means of exchange rather than the get-rich scheme it has been portrayed to be by the media and every one of us here (we are all guilty). If there is anything I have learnt from this whole experience, it is that middlemen make simple transactions a lot more difficult and expensive, and cryptocurrency eliminates this problem. Also, I appreciate the seamless process of transacting on a blockchain like hive. It

CONCLUSION

After much hassle, I found a way to find my dom account, and you won't believe it but it is through piggeyvest. Yes, piggeyvest, through their flex dollar saving options allows you to buy and send dollars. I don't plan to hold a lot of dollars in my dom account as the interest rate is about 7%. Hive is offering about 20%. I will take that any day.

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