Nigeria, June 26 -- Nigeria's foreign exchange market keeps a stunning secret. As much as 90 percent of all dollar transactions are carried on entirely off the books, or so allege Bureau de Change (BDC) operators.

That is roughly equivalent to most forex liquidity remaining unmonitored-the equivalent of billions of dollars traded without ever passing through official banking systems.

This turnover underground is not an undercover operation-it's a lost opportunity. BDC operators are requesting a strategic alliance between their licensed networks and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to bring this off-radar liquidity into the system officially.

Why BDCs Matter Now

Since the CBN's June 2023 foreclosure of forex market windows, policymake...