OPS fears SMEs’ collapse as cash scarcity lingers

The Organised Private Sector has joined the call on the Central Bank of Nigeria to address the cash scarcity witnessed nationwide, stressing that the country is not developed enough for cashless transactions.

Members of the OPS pointed out that the scarcity of cash has adversely affected businesses, especially those in the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises category, as they expressed fears of an imminent collapse of MSMEs.

“While the intent may have been to modernise the financial system and promote cashless transactions, the reality is that these policies have inadvertently stiffened business operations across the country,” the National Vice President of the Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists, Segun Kuti-George, said.

Kuti-George noted, “Nigeria’s economy is not yet developed enough to function effectively on a predominantly cashless basis. A significant portion of the population still relies heavily on cash for daily transactions