Nigeria: Nobody Wants This New Note...

27 August 2012
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The onset of a new high denomination bank note is often shattering psychologically, so you can imagine my anxiety when I heard last Thursday that the Central Bank of Nigeria is about to introduce a new N5000 bank note.

I thought of 2001, when the N500 note debuted. I had gone to the Standard Trust Bank in Kaduna to collect N50,000 that a friend sent, half for me and half for his family. I was slinging a large handbag. Although the N100 and N200 notes had debuted a year earlier, they were still relatively rare in 2001 and banks still mostly gave out N20 "Muri" notes. I was ready to collect 25 wads of them. Presently, the female cashier brought out a single wad of notes. She hesitated before handing it over to me, saying "This is N50,000 woh!" I nodded in some confusion. I was shaken as I left the bank and I felt physically short-changed.

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