How Nigerian businesses pay and get paid globally

Moving money across borders as a Nigerian business comes down to three things: getting the foreign currency, documenting the transaction, and picking a rail. The documentation part changed significantly in June 2026, so most guidance published before then is now wrong.

What changed on 1 June 2026?

The CBN Foreign Exchange Manual 2026 replaced the 2018 edition. It loosened some things and tightened others at the same time, and summaries that report only one half are misleading.

Loosened:

• Form A is gone for outward transfers from self-funded domiciliary accounts. This covers accounts you funded with your own inflows or cash, not accounts funded by buying foreign exchange from the bank.
• Form NXP processing is free for exporters. Free, not optional.
• Domiciliary holders can make telegraphic transfers of up to $10,000 a day without exhaustive trade documentation.

Tightened:

• Advance payment for imports is capped at 30% of FOB value. FOB means the value of the goods before shipping and insurance.
• You can't withdraw cash from an export proceeds account any more.
• Penalties went up sharply. Banks face a ₦100 million flat fine plus ₦10 million per affected transaction for processing undocumented transfers, and corporate entities face fines of up to 10 times the transaction amount.

What it means for you: if you hold your own dollars, paying out is easier. If you import, your advance payment is capped and your bank will ask for more paperwork, not less, because their exposure went up.

The CBN gave the manual to banks rather than publishing it, so detail here comes from law firm and press summaries.

Form A, Form M, Form NXP: which do you need?

These are three documents doing three different jobs, and they get mixed up constantly.

Short version: Form M for goods coming in, Form NXP for goods going out, Form A for money going out that isn't buying goods.

Do you still need these forms if you use a fintech?

Short answer: yes, and this is the part most fintech marketing skips.

The documentation follows the transaction, not the payment provider. Form M attaches to the import itself. Form NXP attaches to the export. Form A attaches to buying foreign exchange in the official market. Which provider moves the money doesn't change what Customs and the CBN require.

Form M is unavoidable. It's mandatory for anyone importing physical goods, and in Sterling Bank's own words, "irrespective of the value and whether payment is involved or not." There's a flag on the form marking whether payment comes from the official FX market or from your own funds, and both cases still need the form. Paying in USDT doesn't remove it either, because the goods still arrive at a Nigerian port and still need a registered Form M to clear.

And only a bank can validate it. A Form M is validated by an authorised dealer bank, which is a licensed bank. Fintechs hold payment and money transfer licences, not authorised dealer status. So using a fintech takes the bank out of your payment leg, not out of your documentation leg. Same for Form NXP, where only an authorised dealer can certify to the CBN that your export proceeds came back.

Form A is the one where the answer isn't settled. The 2026 manual removed Form A for outward transfers from a self-funded domiciliary account. A domiciliary account is a specific product held at a licensed bank in your name, and an authorised dealer is a licensed bank by statute. A fintech balance is usually a ledger entry against a pooled account the fintech holds, which is legally a claim on the fintech rather than your own domiciliary account. Nothing published says whether the exemption reaches it, so don't plan around the assumption that it does.

What it means for you: choose a fintech for speed, rate and workflow. Don't choose one expecting the paperwork to disappear. Ask your provider directly what documentation they generate and what they expect you to file yourself, and get it in writing.

One more thing worth knowing when you're comparing providers. Since January 2024, international money transfer operators in Nigeria are inbound-only and can't buy foreign exchange in the domestic market for settlement. Providers offering outbound business payments are doing it through some other structure, and none of them publish what that structure is. That includes us. It's a fair question to ask any provider, including Daya.

How do you pay an international supplier?

There are four routes, roughly in order of how most businesses use them.

1. Bank transfer with trade documentation. Open a Form M for goods, your bank sources the foreign currency, and it goes out by SWIFT. The formal route, the one your auditor prefers, and the slowest.

2. Your own foreign currency account. If you hold dollars in a self-funded corporate domiciliary account, you can pay directly. Easier since June 2026 for anything that isn't buying goods.

3. A fintech payout provider. A provider with its own foreign currency accounts and payout rails moves the money without you sourcing the FX yourself. Faster, and you still keep the documentation your accountant will ask for. Daya Business sits here, handling multi-currency balances and global payouts from one dashboard.

4. Stablecoins. Common on the China corridor because it settles in minutes. It puts the compliance and record-keeping on you, so it should be a deliberate decision rather than a default.

What's different about paying Chinese suppliers?

Enough that it's worth handling separately.

• Chinese suppliers often want payment before production, which runs straight into the 30% FOB advance cap.
• Many accept USDT, which is why the stablecoin route is more established on this corridor than any other.
• The sums are usually large enough that a 2% rate difference is real money rather than a rounding difference.

Agree the payment method when you agree the price, not when the invoice lands.

How do you pay contractors and staff abroad?

The two are different obligations, and treating them the same is how companies get into trouble.

Contractors invoice you and you pay the invoice. Mechanically it's the same as paying a supplier for a service, which makes it a Form A transaction where a form is needed at all. Keep the contract and the invoice.

Employees in another country bring that country's payroll, tax withholding and social contributions. Most Nigerian companies use an employer of record rather than trying to run foreign payroll themselves.

Paying staff in foreign currency inside Nigeria is a third question, with its own payroll and tax treatment.

How do you receive foreign currency as a company?

There are three ways to do it.

1. A corporate domiciliary account. Your bank holds foreign currency for the company. Best for large, documented inflows, and some counterparties insist on it.

2. A fintech business account with foreign receiving details. Faster to open, and it gives you account details a foreign client can pay directly. Daya Business does this alongside payouts, so receiving and sending run from the same balance.

3. An export proceeds account, if you export goods. Note the 2026 change: no cash withdrawals.

For inbound transfers generally, beneficiaries can take only the naira equivalent of $200 in cash, with the rest paid into a bank account.

What does it cost?

The same three charges individuals face, at a scale where they matter a lot more.

1. The receiving or sending fee. Usually stated, usually small.
2. The conversion cost. On a $50,000 supplier payment this is where nearly all the cost sits. Most providers don't publish how far their rate sits from the market.
3. The local transfer cost at either end. Usually a flat naira fee.

At business volumes, the conversion is the number to negotiate. A 1% difference on $50,000 is $500 per payment, every month.

What records should you keep?

Your bank's exposure went up in 2026, so expect them to ask for more. Keep, for every cross-border payment:

1. The invoice or contract
2. The form reference, where one applies
3. The bank or provider confirmation with the transaction reference
4. The rate you were given and the date
5. Shipping and customs documents, for goods

Keeping this as you go is much cheaper than reconstructing it during an audit.

How should you choose a provider?

Five questions are worth asking before you move any volume.

1. What's your rate right now, on my actual amount? Not the headline rate. Compare the naira or dollar figure that lands.
2. What are your limits per transaction and per day? Discovering a cap mid-payment is expensive.
3. Which corridors and currencies do you actually support? Not what's on the marketing page.
4. What happens when a payment fails or gets returned? Ask about timelines and who chases it.
5. What documentation do you provide? Your accountant needs something more than a screenshot.