After a decade of demonstrated success, Nigeria’s Treasury Single Account faces a critical juncture. However, sustaining and deepening these gains requires deliberate action.
Here are four essential steps to maximise the TSA’s effectiveness going forward.
1. Undertake a Comprehensive Review Involving Critical Stakeholders:
A thorough review of the TSA must be undertaken to identify operational, administrative and technology processes that need to be retained, optimised, or upgraded.
This review should involve all critical stakeholders to ensure the initiative continues to deliver and meet expectations.
2. Anchor the TSA Framework on Robust Legislation:
The updated TSA framework must be anchored on robust legislation that insulates it from political interference.
This is essential to deepen transparency as a non-negotiable pillar of Nigeria’s financial architecture, regardless of which administration holds power.
Whilst the TSA has survived multiple governments, permanent institutional protection requires legal foundations that cannot be easily dismantled or circumvented by future administrations.
3. Resist Replacing Indigenous Technology With Foreign Alternatives:
Nigeria must resist the typical challenge of replacing indigenous technology with foreign technology.
Remita and indigenous fintech powerhouse, has powered the TSA successfully for over a decade, earning international recognition.
Maintaining indigenous solutions is essential for growing the local technology market and becoming a true net earner from technology, rather than perpetually dependent on foreign systems.
4. Expand the TSA Framework to Capture Foreign Exchange Inflows:
The TSA framework must be expanded to capture foreign exchange inflows into government accounts.
This extends the same transparency and accountability principles that have worked brilliantly for naira transactions to dollar and other foreign currency revenue streams, ensuring comprehensive visibility across all government financial flows.
The TSA represents more than a revenue management system. It embodies a choice about what kind of government Nigeria aspires to have: one that operates transparently within constitutional bounds, or one that tolerates the opacity enabling corruption.
After a decade of demonstrated success, the TSA must be protected, strengthened, improved, and institutionalised as a permanent feature of Nigeria’s governance framework.
