The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reviewed the approval for payment of Estacode to Ministries, Departments & Agencies (MDA’s) within one working day from 26 minutes in 2022.
This was disclosed in the Bank’s reviewed Service Charter, approved by Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN, and released on Wednesday.
An estacode refers to a payment allowance to government officials to cover their travel expenses, including lodging and feeding, while on official duty outside their domicile.
The Service Charter is a requirement of the Business Facilitation Act (BFA) 2022 for driving the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
It also enables the Central Bank to fully comply with the directives of SERVICOM Nigeria (The Presidency) on improving customer service delivery.
The Charter outlines how the Bank promises to work with its external customers to meet their service expectations along with what the Bank expects from them.
Read also CBN boosts customer experience with revamped service charter
The 34-page document stated that the CBN will clarify foreign exchange and trade policies within three working days, which is longer than one working day (2022 service charter) from the date the request is received.
According to the new service charter, processing electronic Certificate of Capital Importation (eCCI) , including issuance, transfer, conversion, and amendment, would be done within one working day from receiving the request. This was done within 24 hours in the old service charter.
Forex Forms management – extension, amendment and cancellation remain within five working days from the date the request is received.
In terms of issuance of authorized dealers and buyers trading codes for (Banks, BDCs, Oil Companies, and Hotels), it will now take three working days, as against five working days from date request is received, in the 2022 service charter.
The CBN said issuance of the authorised dealership and buyers licenses will be done within two months now, compared to three months from the date the request is received, in the 2022 charter.
Regarding the renewal of authorised dealership and buyership licenses, the timeline remains 10 working days from the date the request is received.
The document showed that in the licensing of financial institutions, the Approval In Principle (AIP) Stage now takes up to six months from within three months (2022), subject to compliance with CBN licensing requirements. However, the licensing of financial institutions’ final approval stage remains within three months.
The new service charter set the review and regulatory approvals of board charters for banks and Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) timeline to within 20 working days, from the previous five working days.
