Nigeria welcomes alternatives to the SWIFT payment system, including a Russian analogue — the Financial Messaging System of the Bank of Russia (SPFS), — and will consider their use if it satisfies its national interests, Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told Sputnik.
"This [SPFS] is a very interesting system. It is welcomed. You know, the more the merrier, as they say. It doesn't mean that SWIFT is not a good system, but if there are other alternatives, Nigeria would consider [them] ... It's something that we will look at. And if it's in our interest to engage in it, we will for sure," the minister said, when asked to comment on the creation of SPFS and the possibility of Nigeria joining it.
Tuggar was on a working visit to Moscow from March 5-7.
SWIFT is the world's main international payment system, exchanging millions of messages a day. In 2014, after the first wave of Russian sanctions, several countries launched work on developing their payment systems. The Bank of Russia has created the SPFS system, which ensures uninterrupted transmission of financial messages within and outside the country, while China has launched the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System.
Messenger/Mahbub
