The Central Bank of Nigeria joined a growing
list of emerging markets betting on digital
money to cut transaction costs and boost
participation in the formal financial system.
“Nigeria has become the first country in Africa,
and one of the first in the world to introduce a
digital currency to her citizens,” President
Muhammadu Buhari said in televised speech at
the launch in Abuja, the capital. “The adoption
of the central bank digital currency and its
underlying technology, called blockchain, can
increase Nigeria’s gross domestic product by
$29 billion over the next 10 years.”
The International Monetary Fund projects GDP
for Africa’s largest economy to be $480 billion
in 2021.
The issuance of the digital currency, called the
eNaira, comes after the central bank earlier in
February outlawed banks and financial
institutions from transacting or operating in
cryptocurrencies as they posed a threat to the
financial system.
Since the launch of the eNaira platform, it’s
received more than 2.5 million daily visits, with
33 banks integrated on the platform, 500
million c ($1.2 million) successfully minted and
more than 2,000 customers onboarded, central
bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said at the
launch.
Central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, are
national currency — unlike their crypto
counterparts, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum,
which are prized, in part, because they are not
tied to fiat currency. The eNaira will
complement the physical naira, which has
weakened 5.6% this year despite the central
bank’s efforts to stabilize the currency.
“The eNaira and the physical naira will have
the same value and will always exchange at
one naira to one eNaira,” Emefiele said.
The digital currency is expected to boost cross-
border trade and financial inclusion, make
transactions more efficient as well as improve
monetary policy, according to the central bank.
“Alongside digital innovations, CBDCs can
foster economic growth through better
economic activities, increase remittances,
improve financial inclusion and make
monetary policy more effective,” Buhari said.
Digital money can also “help move many more
people and businesses from the informal into
the formal sector, thereby increasing the tax
base of the country,” he said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria in August selected
Bitt Inc. as a technical partner to help create
the currency that was initially due to be
introduced on Oct. 1.
Nigeria joins the Bahamas and the Eastern
Caribbean Central Bank in being among the
first jurisdictions in the world to roll out
national digital currencies. China launched a
pilot version of its “digital renminbi” earlier
this year. In Africa, nations
from Ghana to South Africa are testing digital
forms of their legal tender to allow for faster
and cheaper money transactions, without
losing control over their monetary systems.

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/10/25/nigeria-becomes-first-african-nation-to-roll-out-digital-money
mynd44 oam4j lalasticlala seun
https://dailytrust.com/nigeria-first-african-country-to-launch-digital-currency-cbn-governor

Good development over to you wailers

Good news

enaira, Blockchain? Please educate me, is enaira now a crypto currency. Because the FAQ on e naira specifically says it's not

Abitolola:
enaira, Blockchain? Please educate me, is enaira now a crypto currency. Because the FAQ on e naira specifically says it's not

toh these are confusing times