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By Chinwendu Obienyi
Despite seeing substantial growth since its inception, the country’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), otherwise known as eNaira’s overall adoption remain limited, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday revealed.
Launched in October 2021, the eNaira was designed to enhance financial inclusion and support the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cashless policy.
However, the apex bank’s quarterly statistical bulletin for the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, revealed that the eNaira constitutes only 0.36% of the total currency in circulation as of March 2024 as its share amounts to N13.98 billion out of N3.87 trillion in circulation reported during the period under review.
Since its launch, the eNaira has seen a significant increase of 1,896% from the initial N700.75 million in October 2021. This growth, though notable, still reflects a slow adoption rate, particularly among retail users.
The eNaira was designed to be accessible, including to those without bank accounts.
The eNaira Speed Wallet app is available for download on the Google Play Store and the iOS Store. The apex bank also introduced a USSD code, *997#, which allows people without smartphones to also create an eNaira wallet.
The app allows Nigerians to create either an individual or business wallet. While the consumer (Individual) wallet requires an individual to register with a phone number, email address, BVN, and date of birth, the business wallet requires a phone number, email address, TIN, RC number, owner’s BVN, company account number, and date of birth of the business owner.
It will be recalled that the CBN partnered with several banks, fintech companies and merchants to enable the adoption and usage of the eNaira.
It also implemented various incentives and regulations to encourage the uptake of eNaira.
For instance, the CBN waived transaction fees for eNaira users until 2023 and has set a minimum capital requirement of N50 million for eNaira service providers.
The apex bank also issued guidelines on the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) measures for the eNaira ecosystem.
Meanwhile, the central bank introduced the use of its digital currency as a payment option to recipients of diaspora remittances.
Despite these measures, the adoption rate of the eNaira remains slow with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) scoring it’s adoption low, stating that the slow growth in wallet downloads among retail users was a significant barrier to widespread adoption.
