The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele said this during the
inauguration of the USSD transaction code at a 5-day Northern eNaira fair, Kano
2022.
The theme of the fair is: “Implementation of eNaira Wallet
Towards Job Opportunity and Economic Growth.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the apex bank
introduced the eNaira transaction code *997#, to engender financial inclusion
and avail Nigerians opportunities to endless possibilities through financial
services.
Emefiele, represented by the Deputy Governor of Operations,
Mr Folashodun Adenisi-Shonubi, described eNaira as a strategic initiative, in
accordance with the bank’s mandate to preserve monetary and financial
stability.
“It captured the slogan ‘Same Naira, More Possibilities’,
and was designed to positively impact lives of Nigerians, and transform the
economy.
“The eNaira is expected to enhance inclusion, support
poverty reduction, enable direct welfare disbursement to citizens, support a
resilient payments ecosystem, improve availability and usability of central
bank money,” he said.
He said it would also facilitate diaspora remittances,
reduce the cost of processing cash, and improve the efficiency of cross-border
payments, among others.
According to him, approximately 45 per cent of Nigerians do
not have bank accounts, while 35.9 per cent are excluded from formal financial
services.
He, however, said that about 81 per cent of the adult
population in Nigeria, representing 86 million of the 106 million, own mobile
phones.
“In addition, there are 150 million mobile subscribers in
Nigeria, according to NCC, June 2022.
“Therefore, eNaira seeks to leverage the huge opportunity
mobile telecommunication presents, as a distribution channel for the offering
of digital services to the underserved and unbanked population,” he said.
Gov Abdullahi Ganduje, represented by Alhaji Sagir Muhammad,
Special Adviser on Cabinet Affairs, thanked the CBN for the unveiling of the
eNaira USSD code in Kano.
He said that his administration would ensure enabling
environment for businesses to thrive for the overall social and economic
development of the state.
The governor said the state government would use the eNaira
platform for its empowerment programmes, and urged Nigerians to utilise the
opportunity, to boost their businesses.
“With this, you don’t need to go to the bank, POS operators,
or have ATM card, all you need is to use the transaction code “997#,” he said.
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