Dawn to dusk: How naira scarcity helped a PoS merchant become ‘king of cash’ in Abuja suburb

In Nigeria today, cash may be king. But people like Emmanuel Adawa, a point of sale (PoS) operator, who can control the amount and the time many Nigerians have access to the naira, know who the real boss is.

Not much is needed to run a PoS business in Nigeria. In many cases, all you need is an umbrella, a plastic table and chair, and a logbook. But Emma, as he is fondly called, is not just a regular PoS operator. His “office” is a small musty yellow metal kiosk coated with black imprints of dirt. A green tarpaulin layered with dust hangs off the roof — a weak attempt to shield him from adverse weather conditions. A banner lazily hanging off the erected structure reads ‘EMMA POS AVAILABLE’, but most of the letters are worn out. The dilapidated nature of the structure, perhaps, is proof of Emma’s three rugged years of being in the game.

But the shabby appearance of the kiosk is the least of the problems for many Nigerians who are feeling the sting of the cash crunch in the country. And Emma’s shop, located strategically on the first avenue of Gwarinpa, the largest single housing estate in West Africa, is succour for stranded residents with a desperate need to access the naira.

Surrounded by a hum of commerce, Emma says his business revenue has increased by over 40 percent. Most of the time, he acts as a third-party payment merchant for customers who do not have the cash to pay for goods.

But not many of Emma’s colleagues can boast of the same blessing. He tells this reporter that other PoS operators have been forced out of business, leaving him to tend to hundreds of customers in a day. He is the only cash merchant in the whole neighbourhood. A drive through the area by this reporter does not counter his claims.

The responsibility leaves him exhausted but it means more money for him, he says, while failing to hide the modest smile tugging at his lips. To avoid burnout, he has business hours for specific tasks during the day

“Every day, I come out by 7 am and do business till 11:30 pm in the night,” Emma says.

“I give cash from morning till 2 pm and then I stop. I continue from 6 or 7 pm till 11:30 pm for other customers who were at work and could not get cash in the morning. The space between 2 pm to 6 pm is for customers who are just making transfers or deposits for the food they have eaten at the nearby restaurant. When they pay, I’ll give them a receipt to give the restaurant and then I take my charges.”

At the end of each day, he sits down with the restaurant manager to tally the accounts and distribute the money accordingly.

However, being a PoS operator isn’t without its challenges. Customers can be demanding, often wanting more than is available, leading to conflicts and even physical altercations. To avoid that, Emma has a strict N2,000 per person policy.

“Business before was easy but now it’s very difficult. I’m not even talking about the access to cash but the customers. They always want more than necessary and sometimes they want to fight,” Emma says.

“So, because of that, I only give N2,000 per person. If you like go and come back 50 times in a day, once I’ve marked your face, I won’t give you again.”

Unlike Emma’s other colleagues, his only problem is that his stock of cash does not last. According to the PoS merchant, 10 minutes is too much for N100,000 to go around.

He recalls that when the naira scarcity just started, there were panic withdrawals but because he has been in the “finance business”, he knew the cash scarcity’s sting would be felt by even his colleagues and so he “applied wisdom”.

“The truth is that with or without the scarcity, I always have customer traffic,” he brags over the beep of his PoS machine.

“For me, I don’t buy my cash and I don’t struggle to get it. I have a supplier who always gives me the amount I need. So, because I don’t want to be self-centred, I give out my cash at normal rates, that is N100 per N2,000.

“Right now, I don’t have anything on me,” he opens his bag for confirmation.

In between the conversation with this reporter, occasionally, a small crowd rallies around him, teasing him and hoping to get a favour out of him but EMMA POS has a strict N2,000 per person policy so he is unfazed by his ‘fans’. 

He hopes the naira scarcity does not continue but he reluctantly agrees that a prolonged scarcity would give him enough capital to expand his PoS business.