United Capital Plc has said failed e-payments and lack of cash will weigh on economic activities in the first quarter (Q1), 2023.
The research firm in a report said: “most recent data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) revealed that the total value of cashless transactions in the Nigerian economy declined by 4.8 per cent in February 2023 to print at N37.7 trillion relative to N39.6 trillion recorded in January 2023.
“The key driver of the observed decline in the value of e-transactions was the increased failed payment experienced in February 2023, particularly owing to a short-fall in network infrastructure.
“The increasing traffic arising from customers’ e-transactions has led to infrastructural collapse as most transactions were left unexecuted, thereby leaving customers stranded. We observed that the 41.3 per cent increase in the use of e-payment gateways within the reviewed period could not translate into increment in the value of electronic transactions.”
It noted that the CBN’s currency redesign policy, which was announced on October 26, 2022 contributed to the ‘cash-crunch’ in the economy, saying, this could be true as customers were unable to access the new notes after the withdrawal of the N200, N500 and N1,000 from circulation.
“As a result of hardship suffered by Nigerians, three state governments (Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara) had on February 3, 2023 sued the federal government at the Supreme Court for a reversal of the policy.”
