The Central Bank of Nigeria’s digital currency, eNaira has recorded N4 billion worth of transactions and has amassed over 200,000 users with over 840,000 downloads since its launch last October. During the grand finale of the “eNaira Hackathon” in Abuja on Thursday, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, made this disclosure.
According to the Governor, during the grand finale of the eNaira Hackathon which is a joint project between CBN and the African Fintech Foundry (AFF), he noted that “Since the launch of this great initiative, the e-Naira has reached 840,000 downloads, with about 270,000 active wallets comprising over 252,000 consumer wallets and 17,000 merchant wallets. In addition, volume and value of transactions on the platform have been remarkable, reaching above 200,000 and N4 billion, respectively.”
He constinued by stating the value “eNaira will bring to Nigerians. “The eNaira will make a significant positive difference to Nigeria and Nigerians. It was also developed to provide Nigerians with a cheap, safe and trusted means of payment. It is unlike offline payments channels like agent networks, USSD, wearables, cards and near-field communication technology. The eNaira would give access to financial services to underserved and unbanked segments of the population,” he said.
Emefiele then went on to introduce the second phase of the eNaira project which is aimed at promoting financial inclusion by bringing on unbanked consumers by utilizing offline channels. According to him, “Greater success is envisioned for the project with phase two expected to deliver more gains with a target of about eight million active users based on estimations using the diffusion of innovation model. When we launched the eNaira, we promised to increase the level of financial inclusion in the Country because just like the Naira, the eNaira is expected to be accessible to all Nigerians.
”I am pleased to inform you that by next week, Nigerians, both banked and unbanked, will be able to open an eNaira wallet and conduct transactions by simply dialling *997 from their phones."
