eNaira records 700,000 transactions/N8bn in one year, says CBN

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 October 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 Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability at the CBN, Aisha Ahmad.

The eNaira, CBN’s version of the Central Bank Digital Currency, was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Emefiele said 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.

He said, “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 that the story of the eNaira had been one of courage, persistence and commitment to explore new frontiers and possibilities.

According to him, as part of the digitisation drive, the apex bank has 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.

Emefiele said, “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.”

Also speaking, Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, CBN, Dr Kingsley Obiora, said that the seminar was an annual platform to brainstorm on topical economic issues.

He said that the intention was to proffer policy options for the consideration of management of the CBN.

“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.