The Central Bank of Nigeria has revealed that the country’s newly-released eNaira wallet has been downloaded more than 566,000 times across 160 countries.
In a statement, the apex bank said that over 488,000 consumer wallets have been onboarded so far, with around 78,000 merchant wallets being acquired. The statement further stated that these downloads have occurred across 160 countries, according to data obtained from the Google Playstore and the Apple Store.
The bank also revealed that close to 17,000 transactions have been recorded, amounting to over N62 million. The average transaction falls at $9.3 each, as the numbers suggest a successful adoption rate.
The country’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the eNaira was officially unveiled by the Federal Government in October, in the country’s capital Abuja. The CBN stated that the launch of the CBDC was a result of several years of solid research in pushing the boundaries of the payment system, in order to make financial transactions much easier for all the classes of society.
The eNaira is also explained by the CBN as the digital form of the Naira, the country’s official currency and is issued in accordance with Section 19 of the CBN Act. The CBN stated that the eNaira is a legal tender and a direct liability of the bank. The CBDC will form part of the circulating currency and will be on the same level with the physical naira.
The guidelines introduced by the CBN concerning the eNaira state that the digital currency will complement the physical naira as a less costly, safe, more efficient and generally acceptable means of payment.
These numbers – which come less than a month after the official unveiling of the digital currency – show a general anticipation of the CBDC, both domestically (in Nigeria) and in the international market. The high number of downloads shows that people all over the world (Nigerian or not) have been patiently waiting for the digital currency to come out, so that they can acquire it. This bodes well for the future of the digital currency, which looks to be used very often when it finally kicks off properly.