The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says it is ready to help the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) to print its legal tender, the Dalasi.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele agreed to the currency minting proposal from the Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Buah Saidy, who led a delegation on a two-day visit to him on Tuesday.
The CBG had approached CBN for a possible partnership to tackle acute currency shortages among other currency management challenges in the country.
Speaking on the proposal, Emefiele said Nigeria has a lot of capacity in currency printing as she has been minting since the 1960s and “we are willing to assist in printing your currency. We can be extremely competitive in terms of cost.”
Saidy informed the CBN governor that relying on its current printer, De La Rue of London, for its currency needs was expensive and unsustainable.
He explained that it costs the bank about £70,000 to lift printed currencies from Sri Lanka to the Gambia.
Emefiele assured his visitors that the CBN has a competitive advantage to undertake the currency printing for Gambia, adding that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting has a lot of idle capacity to satisfy the demand of the CBG.
“Our colleagues from Liberia who were there two months ago were fascinated by the facilities we have at the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting,” he said.
On its part, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc said it is ready if both parties come to a deal.
