Reports reaching Africa Daily News, New York have it that, since its inception in October of last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) e-Naira virtual currency network has seen over ₦4 billion in transactions.
Mr. Godwin Emefiele who is the CBN Governor disclosed this to the public, yesterday, at e-Naira’s Hackathon grand finale, hosted in Abuja.
In his words, ‘Since the launch of this great initiative, the e-Naira has reached 840,000 downloads, with about 270,000 active wallets comprising over 252,000 consumer wallets and 17,000 merchant wallets.’
‘In addition, volume and value of transactions on the platform have been remarkable, reaching above 200,000 and N4 billion, respectively.’
Godwin Emefiele revealed that even with the initiative’s proven track records, the bank has begun another round of the e-Naira in partnership with private sector executives.
He further said: ‘Notwithstanding this appreciable progress, the second phase of the project has begun and it is intended to drive financial inclusion by onboarding unbanked and under-served users leveraging offline channels.’
‘Hence, greater success is envisioned for the project with phase two expected to deliver more gains with a target of about 8,000,000 active users based on estimations using the diffusion of innovation model.’
Emefiele claimed the CBN maintained its corporate strategy in determining the Naira’s fate by striking a balance between currency advancement and sustainability.
He said: ‘Pursuant to achieving its mandate of preserving monetary and financial stability, the CBN is strategic in charting the future of Nigeria’s legal tender, be it in its traditional or digital form as the economy transits to a digital one as well as charting the course for innovation in the financial sector and in the infrastructure underpinning financial markets, hence, the importance of getting the balance right between innovation and stability.’
‘Against this background, the launch of e-Naira was timely and strategic in complementing the various diversification and digitization initiatives of the Federal Government including the launch of the Nigeria Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), The National Broadband Strategy, as well as the introduction of the Start-Up Bill and a host of others.’
Why we developed eNaira
The CBN chief asserted that the eNaira would significantly benefit Nigeria and its citizens since it would simplify the process for them to participate in the global digital economy.
He stated: ‘Specifically, the eNaira is expected to enhance financial inclusion, support poverty reduction, enable direct welfare disbursement to citizens, support a resilient payments ecosystem, improve availability and usability of central bank money, facilitate diaspora remittances, reduce the cost of processing cash, and reduce cost and improve efficiency of cross-border payment among others.’
‘The eNaira was also developed to provide Nigerians with a cheap, safe and trusted means of payment. Unlike the offline payments channels like agent networks, USSD, wearables, cards and near field communication technology, the eNaira would give access to financial services to underserved and unbanked segments of the population.’
‘Innovative products and services built on the eNaira would enhance Nigerians’ participation in the digital economy and promote further development of a burgeoning Fintech ecosystem.’
Godwin Emefiele notes that he and the financial team are working hard to see how they can reverse the economic situation; the e-Naira is one of his stated measures.
