The CBN has rewritten the rules on how Nigerians send, receive, and move money across borders. The fourth edition of the forex operational manual takes effect June 1. Here is what it actually changes for you.

The Central Bank of Nigeria published its fourth edition forex manual last Thursday, effective June 1, 2026. Governor Cardoso launched it in Abuja. The headline framing was "boosting market liquidity." The practical details are more specific than that.

Travel money. The PTA and BTA cash split is now 75% electronic, 25% cash. If you're collecting travel allowance before a trip, most of it comes via transfer rather than physical naira. The total allowance amounts stay the same. The delivery channel changes.

Paying school fees abroad. The manual now allows tuition fee payments up to $25,000 per semester through authorised dealer banks. This sounds generous until you price a year at most British or Canadian universities. A single year at many Russell Group institutions runs above £30,000 in tuition alone. Before accommodation. Before living costs. Twenty-five thousand dollars per semester covers some of that. It does not cover all of it. Families paying fees for children at American private universities will feel this ceiling quickly.

The Form A change. This is the quiet win. Form A was the paperwork previously required for ordinary domiciliary account holders making remittances. It has been removed for standard transfers. If you hold a domiciliary account and send money out, that layer of bureaucracy is gone. In practice, this was a friction point for people with legitimate transfers who got stuck in compliance queues. Removing it matters for the Nigerian in Birmingham sending money to their mother in Ibadan through a dom account.

Service exports. Nigerian tech companies, freelancers, and service exporters get new provisions for receiving foreign currency payments. This was a gap that made it harder for Nigerian remote workers and agencies to receive dollar payments cleanly. The manual now names how to do it.

Import deposits. Advance payment for imports rises from 15% to 30%. This affects businesses importing goods, not individuals. But import costs tend to travel downstream to prices. Something worth watching.

The CBN framed this as a liquidity measure. For the diaspora reader, the question is simpler. June 1 is two weeks away. If you have a transfer, a school payment, or a domiciliary account transaction pending, find out how your bank is interpreting the new rules before the deadline arrives.