While acceptance of the digital currency e-naira by the Nigerian public has apparently been slow, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Nigeria’s central bank governor said the bank aims to increase the number of digital currency users tenfold in the next 12 months. The governor predicted that the use of cash would “go to zero” while “the use of digital currencies will increase and become part of our lives.”
Electronic naira to be available to all Nigerians.
The e-naira app, Nigeria’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), has now been downloaded 840,000 times since its launch nearly 10 months ago, according to areport. This fact suggests that less than one million Nigerians have accepted the digital currency that the CBN is touting as a better alternative to volatile cryptocurrencies.
The number of downloads of the e-naira app reveals that Nigerians’ interest in cryptocurrencies is growing, according to reports. For example, earlier this month, Bitcoin.com News reported that a survey found Nigeria to be the most cryptocurrency-obsessed country. Earlier, a survey by Kucoin found that as many as 33.4 million Nigerian adults are cryptocurrency holders.
Even though CBDCs are still less popular than cryptocurrencies, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reportedly expects a tenfold increase in e-naira downloads in the next 12 months.CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said the ultimate objective of the Central Bank is to make CBDC available to all Nigerians. Speaking at a hackathon organized by the central bank, Emefiele described this objective as follows.
Like Naira, e-naira is expected to be available to all Nigerians and will offer more possibilities to bring the unbanked into the digital economy.
To ensure that CBDC is available to all Nigerian adults, the CBN has revealed that e-naira will be available to adults without bank accounts beginning August 22. According to Emefile, those who wish to use the service will be able to access e-naira by dialing 997 on their cell phones.
Governor Emefiele explained that the CBN decided to introduce digital currency because Nigeria has no other option but to embrace the emerging technology. The governor also predicted that the use of cash would “go to zero” while “the use of digital currencies will increase and become part of our lives.”
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