IN 2005 the Central Bank of Nigeria initiated a policy, which stipulated that cheque production in the country must be fully localised by the end of 2009.Apart from that, the apex bank had after the 2006 accreditation exercise, tasked the foreign-based printer to establish their presence in Nigeria within two years.It is important to note that the CBN had accredited 14 firms for the job, and out of these number, three firms are Nigerian.They are Superflux International Limited, The Nigeria Mint and Tripple Gee and Company Plc.During the recent commissioning Superflux ultra modern secure printing facility in Lagos, its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Tokunbo Talabi threw more light on the issue.According to him, The policy direction for CBN, in 2005, was a strong pitching that cheque production be fully localised by the end of 2009. This is 2011, it is our view that CBN of today which has show a lot boldness in approaching and implementing much more dynamic policies that has resulted in significant impact on the Nigerian economy will see to the implementation of this policy.He added, More so, when it is now clear that the three locally accredited security companies can more than meet the needs of banks in the country in the area of secure document production.He earlier noted that, Nigeria is one of the last three countries in the world whose cheque personalisation production banks do in house.A typical cheque processing centre of banks, he said, has over 30 people working with office grade machines to personalise cheque books, noting that this is a huge cost outlay that should be carefully analysed by these banks to enable the banks have a true picture of what they are currently spending and then objectively consider a shared service/outsourcing alternative being offered by Superflux.Speaking, the Governor of the CBN, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, recalled that the CBN has in the last two years put in place several policies and measures to stimulate development of the Nigerian economy, adding that, one of such measures is the initiative to support the real economy through collaboration with other government agencies and private sector institutions to ensure growth and employment generation.He pointed out that the business of printing cheques falls under the oversight responsibility of the CBN.He equally recalled that as part of the development of the payment system, in the Nigeria banking system, the CBN introduced the Nigeria Cheque Printers Accreditation Scheme (NICPAS) to improve automated cheque clearing, reduce the incidence of fraud and encourage the localisation of security printing operation of accredited cheque printers.He similarly, noted that, after the 2006 accreditation exercise, foreign-based accredited printers were called upon to establish their presence in Nigeria within two years.According to him, the CBN has deliberately extended this deadline to give foreign-based printers ample time to establish their presence in Nigeria and also afford the local based printers the opportunity to expand their existing production capacities.He stressed, It is my hope therefore, that foreign based accredited printers will use this last opportunity of accreditation to put in place verifiable facilities in order to scale through future accreditation. May I remind everyone that, the CBN since 2009 is a new CBN. If we say we will do something, we do it, and if you do not comply, you will not be accredited.However, he noted that, it is gratifying that the first response to this call is from an institution wholly owned by Nigerians, stressing that, this bold step should encourage other actors in the sector to take up the challenge and establish their local presence.The time has come for our local entrepreneurs to fill the huge gap in the local production of secure and sensitive instruments, he said, pointing out that Nigeria has a huge market for plastic cards, which Nigerian enterprises should venture into.Based on that, he called on local printers, especially those that are currently upgrading their facilities and processes to speed up action so that in no distant future, all security printing works will be undertaken locally as this will help the local content programme and creating of job opportunities for our teeming population.However, there are challenges to this lofty dream. According to Uzor Okeke, a banker, one of the steps to be taken in order to achieve this feat is the CBN to ensure full compliance by foreign printers to establish presence in this country.He argued that this would help in opening up the economy and provide employment for Nigerians.Also, another banker, Abiodun Ojo, noted that the foreign firms might want to use the excuse of lack of adequate infrastructure not to comply with the CBN directive, but advised the apex bank to ignore such excuses, since local firms where already thriving despite these reasons.He said that if Nigeria companies are already coping with such challenges, then foreign counterparts should not shy away from them, if they are serious in doing business in Nigeria.It would be noted that the CBN in collaboration with the Bankers Committee ahs introduced a codified standard and a Cheque Printers Accreditation Scheme to facilitate an efficient clearing system in Nigeria. The core objectives include raising the level of standards for cheque printing in the country, promoting grater efficiency in the clearing system through reduced reject rates, and facilitating image technology and archiving. The cheque design and the security that must be on the cheque will also assist in addressing issues of cheque fraud. Cheque printers are required to ensure that the new technical aspects of the cheque are met in full, and the personalisation and printing of the MICR codeline are to the specification laid down in the Nigerian cheque standard and Best quality Guidelines. The first edition of the codified standard consist of two main sections; the first section provides the Nigerian Cheque Standard while the other focuses on the Nigerian Cheque Printers Accreditation Scheme, which describes the membership and accreditation processes as well as operational regulations. Finally, the structure and content are largely influenced by the analysis of a number of clearing, settlement and payment issues carried out in recent years by the CBN, the Bankers Committee and MICR Technical Implementation Committee whose membership is drawn from the clearing institutions. It is of paramount importance that banks and security cheque printers adhere strictly to the standard and requirements as specified in the two documents.
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