No naira in Nigeria: What’s a cashless reporter to do?

I slid a mint $100 bill across the counter at a currency exchange shop at Lagos Airport and waited for the attendant to hand me back the equivalent in Nigerian naira. It was Feb. 16, and I had just arrived in Nigeria to cover the country’s much-anticipated presidential election. My mind was spinning with plans to attend rallies, interview voters, and shadow canvassers when suddenly the currency attendant’s voice called me back to reality.

“We don’t have money,” she said, standing in front of boards showing exchange rates for different global currencies. “There’s a naira