In what could be described as a mild boost for financial technology companies in Nigeria, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited and Bamboo Systems Tech. Ltd. have received a court order to have their accounts unfrozen by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The order to unfreeze the companies’ accounts was given by the Federal High Court, Abuja, about three weeks after the CBN secured an exparte order to freeze the accounts of Bamboo and three other fintech companies.
Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Rise Vest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited OPNS, are among companies whose accounts were blocked by the apex bank.
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Others are CTL/Business Expenses, Chaka Technologies Limited, and Trove Technologies Limited.
Consequent upon the recent attack on fintechs by the Federal Government, through the apex bank, Nigerians have decried the action of the Muhammadu Buhari-led government, saying that it is crippling investments, stunting the growth of the economy and increasing youth unemployment, which is already at an all-time high.
These attacks on fintechs and startups, ban on the trading of cryptocurrency, and gagging of Twitter, have formed red flags and painted Nigeria as an unsafe business environment for foreign investors, some Nigerians opined.
According to the Godwin Emefiele-led CBN, the fintech companies were operating without a license while also obtaining forex as part of efforts to acquire foreign securities, hence the need to freeze their accounts.
Although the accounts were marked for closure for six months, the latest court order obtained by Bamboo was given in order to allow the company to pay rent on the property their office is situated in as well as the salaries of its employees.
The case against the ‘Fintech Four,’ in the meantime, has been adjourned to February 17, 2022, after the six-month period in which the accounts were marked for closure, while the CBN carries out its investigation on the companies.
