The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele has ordered the immediate release of N3.5bn as a rebate to 150 exporters who participated in the Race To $200bn scheme.

This was one of the outcomes of the Bankers’ Committee meeting held on Thursday.

The CBN had in February disclosed that it would pay exporters N65 for every $1 sold into the economy through the Investors &Exporters window and N35 for every$1 repatriated and sold into I&E for individual use.

It disclosed this in a guideline for the newly introduced RT 200 programme.

Speaking during a virtual press conference after the committee’s meeting, the Managing Director, Fidelity Bank, Nneka Onyeali-okpe, said the rebate to the exporters would be paid quarterly.

She said, “The CBN governor during the meeting announced the immediate release of N3.5bn incentive to various exporters under the RT200bn programme.  This rebate we just announced will be paid quarterly to exporters who qualify.  All this is to ensure that we boost the foreign exchange that goes into the country.”

Responding to questions by the journalists, the MD Fidelity Bank disclosed that 150 exporters were going to benefit from the rebate this quarter.

She also said that through the programme $60m has been injected into the economy since February when the scheme was launched.

“According to data from the CBN, $60m has come into the country since the programme commenced in February.

“For the number of beneficiaries of N3.5bn, there are 150 customers at various levels and some under the finished goods and some under the semi-finished goods.”

The MD added that only Plateau State had concluded plans to establish non-oil exports terminal in line with the CBN’s plan to reduce the challenges of exporters at the ports.

“This project is only one month old and getting an export processing zone running is not very easy, so we expect that will take a little more time.”

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, Mariam Olusanya, revealed that e-naira wallet downloads had risen to 756,000 in six months.

She said, “Since it was launched we have seen 756,000 downloads of the app. In terms of consumer wallets, we have seen 165,000 downloads and 2,800 merchant wallet downloads.”

She added that members of the committee would continue to push for the adoption of e-naira across the country.

On the adoption level of the NQR code, the Chief Executive Officer, Wema Bank, Ademola Adebise, noted that this form of payment would soon be acceptable in 176 countries.