As some of you may have heard, Nigeria's primary industry is sending out emails and faxes asking for your account number so that they can send you a lot of money, which they have recently "obtained" and provide you a cut of the amount as consideration. Amazingly, these scams do not exist within Nigeria, because this sort of fraud seems to be the one kind of fraud that the government is really good at stamping out.
Anyway, the amount of other kinds of fraud is rampant. So much so, that there is virtually no financial infrastructure. There are no checks (well, there are, but every business has a sign saying that they won't accept them). There are no credit cards, there is only cash.
We have a UBA (United Bank of Africa) in the office building where we receive our money. In order to bank there, you have to have a job at a major company, and they have to write a letter saying that you are honest. That's all you need if you are an expat, but if you're a Nigerian, you also need two "guarantors", people who will vouch for your honesty. They're big on that here. Somehow, they don't believe that "guarantors" will lie (especially since they are often people of influence in the community and receive a kickback for saying that you are honest).
Exxon will allow any adult who's not a relative to be a guarantor for domestic staff, though, so that helps out some people who would otherwise be captive to the guarantors of their home communities.
Anyway, in the office, especially right after pay day, you can see peeople hauling around briefcases and leaving early from work to go pay bills. It's common to see people with a 6" stack of money in a bag, and on occasion you see people with a briefcase. They usually have to go in person to pay mortgages (5 yr only, guaranteed by the employer) and car loans (usually you have to pay for the whole amount in cash.
Here's one of our withdrawals, about $2500. The largest note here is basically an $8 bill, with everything down to a ten cent bill. There are a few coins, but none really in circulation.
3 comments:
Wow! That's crazy! When I saw your picture, I just thought it was an internet picture! But still. $2500 withdrawal HERE is HUGE! What in the world are you buying in Africa!!!
By the way, my sunday afternoon is dedicated to posting/organizing/figuring out christmas stuff.
It sounds a little scary to be carrying around that much cash. hint: do not go out at night with your wallet..er wheelbarrow.
Dang, I would not want to haul that kind of dough around. You should be packin'. Hey yall need to get a facebook. TTYL.
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