The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele says eNaira has recorded 700,000 transactions valued at N8 billion, since its inauguration on Oct. 25, 2021.
Emefiele said this on Wednesday in Abuja, at the 28th
edition of the apex bank’s annual In-house Executive Seminar with the theme,
“Digitalisation of Money and Monetary Policy in Nigeria”.
He was represented by Aisha Ahmad, Deputy Governor,
Financial System Stability, CBN.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the eNaira,
CBN’s version of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), was inaugurated by
President Muhammadu Buhari on Oct. 25, 2021.
According to Emefiele, the eNaira was developed to broaden
the payment possibilities of Nigerians, foster digital financial inclusion,
with potential for fast-tracking intergovernmental and social transfers,
capital flow and remittances.
He said that the eNaira had been globally acclaimed as a
success story.
“Since its launch, a total of N8 billion, consisting over
700,000 transactions has passed through the eNaira platform.
“As part of the CBN”s effort to further integrate and
broaden the usage of the eNaira, it was assigned an Unstructured Supplementary
Service Data (USSD) code, enabling payments by simply dialing ‘*997#’ on a
mobile phone.
“I am proud to announce to you today that the eNaira has
been attracting accolades across the globe as a monumental success.
“It topped the charts on retail CBDCs projects globally, as
at April (PwC, 2022) and several central banks across the globe have been
requesting for our success template on the eNaira,” he said.
He said that the story of the eNaira had been one of
courage, persistence and commitment to explore new frontiers and possibilities.
He added that, as part of the digitisation drive, the apex
bank had taken transformational steps in entrenching a culture of “big data”
and data analytics, as tools for effective policy making.
“To this end, the CBN Data Architecture Project (CeDAP),
code-named “Project OXYGEN” was commissioned, with the objectives of providing
a repository of a variety of data from different sources,” he said.
The CBN governor said that considerable gains had been
achieved on boosting financial inclusion in Nigeria.
He added that at 64.0 per cent, the inclusion rate slowed
down the digital transformation wheel, as all citizens must be carried along to
optimise the gains of a digital economy.
“While cash-based transactions have declined significantly
in the last decade, it is still the dominant means of payment, amidst a large
informal sector.
“Nigeria boasts of one of the fastest growing FinTech
ecosystems in Africa, with the industry projected to grow by 12 per cent
annually.
“But the technological space is still maturing, with limited
market size, funding and venture capitalists, access to baseline technologies,
and skills, as common features, ” he said.
Also speaking, Dr Kingsley Obiora, Deputy Governor, Economic
Policy, CBN, said that the seminar was an annual platform to brainstorm on
topical economic issues.
Obiora said that the intention was to proffer policy options
for the consideration of management of the CBN.
“Through the past years, the seminar has lived up to its
expectations by providing significant inputs towards improving management’s
decisions.
“Our gathering here today should be seen as an important
avenue to critically search for fresh solutions to emerging monetary and
financial challenges confronting us today,” he said.
According to him, the digitalisation of money enhances the
powers of the CBN to impact its monetary policy.
He added that it also had the potential to change traditional
structures of the banking and financial systems, while sustaining the primary
mandate of the CBN.
“The gains in the digitalisation of money spans across
enhancing tax collection, social welfare transfers, and more importantly,
provide benefits that would enhance the goal of cashless policy in Nigeria.
“Similarly, the digitalisation of money is very important
for the facilitation of remittances, financial inclusion, financial market
deepening and ultimately, economic growth,” he said.
He said that the eNaira platform had so far recorded 927,000
total downloads; 317,560 activated consumer wallets with 33 banks fully
integrated and live on the platform.
“N3.0 billion has been successfully minted; N2.10 billion
has been issued to financial institutions; over 3,320 merchants have
successfully registered on the eNaira platform across the country.
“Over 700,000 transactions amounting to about N8 billion has
been recorded on the platform; and there are over 2.5 million daily visits to
the eNaira website, ” he said.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Alhaji
Muhammad Bello, in his goodwill message, commended the CBN for the initiative
to bring together experts and key stakeholders to discuss topical policy issues
aimed at improving the Nigerian economy.
In an address delivered by Mr Agboola Dabiri, Secretary,
Economic Planning and Research Department, FCTA, Bello also commended the CBN
for being proactive in its timely introduction of the eNaira.
“The eNaira is now acclaimed as the first CBDC in Africa and
one of the first retail CBDCs deployed in the world.
“It holds huge potentials for the Nigerian economy in terms
of increasing cross-border trade, improving financial inclusion, strengthening
social interventions, and bolstering Nigeria’s monetary policy and payments
system.
“On the fiscal front, maximising the potential of digital
currencies could be a panacea to the subsisting revenue challenge of
government.
“It could be a tool for optimising tax revenue collection
and improving public expenditure management in Nigeria,” he said.
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