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Column 01 · Nova Observatory

Field Notes

Reporting from inside the corridors.

4 editions · weekly cadence
  1. № 04
    23 May 2026
    Lagos desk
    6 min

    Nigeria's parallel market is tightening — for now

    CBN's May circular tightened BDC operations and pushed the parallel premium briefly below 3% — but FX reserves tell a different story.

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  2. № 03
    16 May 2026
    Dakar desk
    9 min

    Dakar: the new BCEAO digital-franc pilot, from the counter

    Three days at a Dakar branch watching the eCFA pilot rollout — KYC bottlenecks, agent commissions, and what the regulators are not announcing.

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  3. № 02
    9 May 2026
    Casablanca desk
    11 min

    Casablanca's informal currency desks are quietly digitising

    WhatsApp groups now clear Morocco's informal MAD–EUR market faster than licensed bureaux. We sat with three operators.

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  4. № 01
    2 May 2026
    London desk
    6 min

    London Lagos rail: what Wise's pricing tells us about competition

    A week of test transfers across five operators on the UK–Nigeria corridor. Wise is winning on speed; the FX spread story is more nuanced.

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About this column
Signed by the named author or desk. Each edition is reviewed against Nova Observatory editorial standards. Corrections are logged with timestamp on /method.