Nigeria CBDC website goes live as October launch draws near

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Nigeria is set to roll out its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in October, and its official website has already gone live. The website touts the benefits of the CBDC, known as the eNaira, how the public can access and use it, its security features, and more.

Nigeria revealed this year that it has been working on its CBDC for five years now under Project GIANT. The Central Bank of Nigeria has reportedly been observing other central banks in Africa and beyond in an effort to keep up with CBDC developments.

Rakiya Mohammed, the director of IT at the Central Bank of Nigeria, revealed in July that the eNaira would launch in October.

In the newly-launched website, the CBN describes the eNaira as “both a medium of exchange and a store of value, offering better payment prospects in retail transactions when compared to cash payments.”

One of the benefits of the eNaira is that it will foster economic growth by easier access to capital and financial services, the website claims. It will also impact remittances, offering a cheaper and faster alternative.

Nigeria has been hostile to digital currency-based remittance solutions in recent months. As CoinGeek reported, the CBN launched the “Naira 4 Dollar Scheme” to combat the rise in such solutions, paying out $0.13 for every $1 received via the mainstream remittance channels.

The website further claims the eNaira will be traceable, limiting its use for illicit transactions. The Nigerian government will also use the CBDC for “effective, equitable and faster distribution of cash assistance to households and communities included in government Social Welfare Program.”

Financial inclusion, promotion of trade through cheaper transactions, enhanced security through a unique identity and security structure and better revenue collection for the government are the other listed benefits.

Nigerians will be able to download the eNaira wallet app from Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store as from October 1, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor revealed.

He added, “They should be able to find their wallets using their bank accounts and conduct transactions such as transfers and purchases at merchant outlets that have boarded to the platform.”

To learn more about central bank digital currencies and some of the design decisions that need to be considered when creating and launching it, read nChain’s CBDC playbook.

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