The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has, through its policy of replacing all banknotes in circulation, amplified disorder in the country. This decision now provides an example of the dysfunctions that plague the economy of the most populous country in Africa.

The replacement of all banknotes in circulation with new ones has turned Africa's most populous country into chaos. Small businesses are forced to close their doors and there are riots in front of vending machines, hours of waiting to manage to withdraw only 2,000 naira (4 euros). Like the independent analyst Henry Adigun, this decision also gave arguments to those who denounced “a genuine culture of public policy failure” in Nigeria.

According to Henry Adigun, “the CBN now admits that it did not anticipate the challenges posed by this measure. But when creating a new system, the least you can do is study all the possible scenarios, talk to all stakeholders and provide control levers.”