eNaira: Buhari, Emefiele Launch eNaira at State House Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele on Monday, October 25, 2021 officially launched eNaira, Nigeria’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in state house Abuja.

Nigeria is now one of the few countries to have launched digital currency ahead of nations like the United States, United Kingdom, etc.

The CBN believed eNaira will help plug loopholes in the financial system, curb illicit financial flows, strengthen security, improve data collection and monitoring.

Speaking on why he approved CBN’s decision to launch a digital currency, the president explained that his approval was “underpinned by the fact that the CBN has been a leading innovator in the form of money they produce, and in the payment services they deploy for efficient transactions.”

“They have invested heavily in creating a Payment System that is ranked in the top ten in the world and certainly the best in Africa,” the president said at the event in Abuja.

“This payment system now provides high‐value and time‐critical payment services to financial institutions, and ultimately serves as the backbone for every electronic payment in Nigeria.”

President Buhari further said, “estimate suggests the adoption of new CBN digital currency is estimated to increase Nigeria’s GDP by $29 billion over the next 10 years.

“We have become the first country in Africa and one of the first in the world to introduce a digital currency to our citizens.”

Africa’s largest economy has now launched two mobile applications for eNaira – eNaira speed wallet and eNaira merchant wallet – on Google playstore and Apple store to facilitate adoption and usage.