In the first 24 hours of its unveiling, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), also known as eNaira, continued to attract interest from Nigerians with around 200.000 wallets downloaded in less than a day.
A breakdown of data obtained by THISDAY yesterday showed that in less than a day after President Muhammadu Buhari's launch of the digital currency, 156.700 consumer wallets have been created so far, while 23.650 commercial wallets have been opened, which it was a reflection of the strong interest that innovation has continued to attract.
Satisfaction of the Nigerian president
The amount is expected to rise in the coming days as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intensifies awareness of eNaira.
Buhari had said that with eNaira, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to increase by $ 29 billion over the next 10 years. He pointed out that Nigeria was the first country in Africa and one of the first in the world to introduce digital currency.
The president said: “In fact, some estimates indicate that the adoption of the CBDC and its underlying technology, called blockchain, could increase Nigeria's GDP by $ 29 billion over the next 10 years.
"CBDCs can also help increase remittances, foster cross-border trade, improve financial inclusion, make monetary policy more effective and allow the government to send direct payments to citizens eligible for specific welfare programs."
The president assured Nigerians of the security and scalability of the CBDC. He revealed that the journey to create a digital currency for Nigeria began in 2017.
A project that starts from afar
For its part, Emefiele said with growing interest in CBDCs around the world, CBN initiated in-depth studies, consultations, use case identification and testing of the CBDC concept in a Sandbox environment as early as 2017.
He said the goal of the research was to establish a compelling case for the adoption of a digital currency in the country to enable a more prosperous and inclusive economy for all Nigerians.
He added that after the completion of the preliminary work, CBN researchers and experts were able to determine that a digital currency will drive a more cashless, inclusive digital economy and complement the gains from previous policy measures and rapid trading platforms. growing payment.
Emefiele said eNaira will support a resilient payment ecosystem, encourage rapid financial inclusion, reduce cash processing costs, enable direct and transparent welfare intervention for citizens, and increase revenue and tax collection.
Emefiele added: “Therefore, eNaira is the CBDC of Nigeria and is the digital equivalent of the physical naira. As the slogan simply encapsulates, eNaira is the same naira with many more possibilities.
“ENaira - like physical naira - is legal tender in Nigeria and a CBN liability. The eNaira and the naira will have the same value and will always be exchanged on a naira for an eNaira ”.
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