My Money Issue In Lagos, Nigeria & How I Almost Set Up A Bank Account
Intro
If you have never been to Nigeria, and are planning to go, this is something you must read before landing. During my time in Nigeria, I ran into some money issues which turned out to waste about an hour of my time in Lagos trying to withdraw cash. Between having a bank manager trying to get me to transfer my assets into a Nigerian bank account, as well as no ATM's in the city having cash, it was certainly something I have never experienced in my life.
Allow me to explain...
ATM Situation
When it comes to taking out cash in Nigeria, it is not as simple as storlling over to an ATM and withdrawing money. For starters, none of my cards worked, even though they have worked in pretty much every other country in the world. So instead, I saw a lady on the side of the road exchenging credit card payments for cash. I have heard that locals clean out the ATM's when they are restocked and then sell the cash right next to the ATM😅. It wasn't too bad of an upcharge (around 2%), but once again, my card would not process.
I tried every single one of my cards, and even alternated between sign and pin, none of them worked... I needed cash, so there was only one thing I could do...
The Bank
Thankfully, I had my police escort for the day in Lagos, which proved to be very useful when it came to taking out cash. We headed over to a local bank by Makoko, and proceeded to try and switch USD to Naira. However, the bank would also not do this unless I had a bank account with them.
In the end, I offered the chief officer around 50 USD cash for him to keepl, if he could do the switch for 60,000 Naira (he could keep the rest).
It took a while, and the bank manager even invited me back to take a seat with him in his office. Turns out that he wanted me to open a local bank account with him in Nigeria, even though I was only spending a day in the country🤣. I tell you what: I respect his hustle, he was a nice guy and a good salesman.
An hour later, we had the cash, and I was ready to spend it!
So, How Do You Get Cash?
I made the mistakes, so you don't have to. Before heading off to Nigeria, I would see if anywhere in your home country has a place to change your local currency for Naira. If not, make sure to exchange at the airport when you land in Lagos, and if you can, bring new 100$ bills as they will give you a favorable exchange rate.
Addtionally, if you happen to run out of money while you are there, you can send money to yourself through Western Union as there are multiple locations around Lagos.
Final Thoughts
You know, as much as it was a bit of pain the arse taking out money in Lagos, I was just laughing the whole time. Having a bank manager try to sell me on a bank account in Nigeria was hilarious, and having locals strip the ATM's and then sell cash right next to the ATM had me rolling. If you happen to go to Nigeria, be prepared to go with the flow and accept the differences in life.
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