The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian government launched a new and re-designed Naira note and made the old one worthless.
The newly issued notes are scarce at the moment of writing and haven’t been circulated in the streets or banks.
Most ATMs aren’t dispensing cash and the few that do only give a maximum of ₦2,000 per ATM card and have long queues.
The effects are negative. Riots are erupting in different states across Nigeria, businesses in the streets are closed and most people are unable to commute.
On paper, the effects shouldn’t be this problematic because you could either pay with mobile transfer or pay with your debit card but the Nigerian setting is that lots of people (danfo buses, street food vendors, traffic hawkers, aboki etc.) do not have a bank account.
Most don't trust transfers from strangers because of fraud and fake alerts or bank networks are too poor to confirm transactions fast. Also, many simply do not know how to read, write or use Internet banking.
Personally, I've always had to go source for at least ₦3,000 of the new notes a day before each of the two days I commute to work. I get it from a POS agent by paying a ₦1,000 charge.
That's ₦4,000 to collect ₦3,000 new notes.
For everything else, I pay with a mobile transfer or debit card at stores that accept either.