Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, says the eNaira has recorded 700,000 transactions worth N8 billion since its launch on October 25, 2021.Information Guide Nigeria
Emefiele made the remarks on Wednesday in Abuja, during the 28th annual In-house Executive Seminar of the central bank, with the topic ‘Digitalisation of Money and Monetary Policy in Nigeria.‘
Aisha Ahmad, the CBN’s Deputy Governor for Financial System Stability, represented him.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd. ), would introduce the eNaira, the Central Bank Digital Currency, on October 25, 2021.
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According to Emefiele, the eNaira was created to broaden Nigerians’ payment options, boost digital financial inclusion, and have the ability to accelerate intergovernmental and social transfers, capital movement, and remittances.
He asserted that the eNaira was a global success story.
“Since its launch, a total of N8 billion, consisting of 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 dialling *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 our success template on the eNaira,” he said.
He described the eNaira’s history as one of bravery, perseverance, and a devotion to exploring new horizons and possibilities.
He went on to say that as part of the digitalisation effort, the apex bank had taken transformative steps to embed a culture of “big data” and data analytics as tools for effective policymaking.
“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 stated that significant progress had been made in increasing financial inclusion in Nigeria.
He noted that the inclusion rate of 64.0 percent delayed the digital transformation wheel, as all citizens must be carried along to maximise the benefits of a digital economy.
“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.
“But the technological space is still maturing, with limited market size, funding and venture capitalists, access to baseline technologies, and skills, as common features, ” he said.
“Through the past years, the seminar has lived up to its expectations by providing significant inputs towards improving management’s decisions.
“Our gathering here today should be seen as an important avenue to critically search for fresh solutions to emerging monetary and financial challenges confronting us today,” he said.
According to him, the digitisation of money enhances the powers of the CBN to impact its monetary policy.
He added that it also had the potential to change traditional structures of the banking and financial systems, while sustaining the primary mandate of the CBN.
“The gains in the digitalisation of money span across enhancing tax collection, social welfare transfers, and more importantly, provide benefits that would enhance the goal of cashless policy in Nigeria.
“Similarly, the digitalisation of money is very important for the facilitation of remittances, financial inclusion, financial market deepening and ultimately, economic growth,” he said.
He said that the eNaira platform had so far recorded 927,000 total downloads; 317,560 activated consumer wallets with 33 banks fully integrated and live on the platform.
“N3.0 billion has been successfully minted; N2.10 billion has been issued to financial institutions; over 3,320 merchants have successfully registered on the eNaira platform across the country.
“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.
The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Alhaji Muhammad Bello, in his goodwill message, commended the CBN for the initiative to bring together experts and key stakeholders to discuss topical policy issues aimed at improving the Nigerian economy.
In an address delivered by Secretary, Economic Planning and Research Department, FCTA, Mr Agboola Dabiri, Bello also commended the CBN for being proactive in its timely introduction of the eNaira.
“The eNaira is now acclaimed as the first CBDC in Africa and one of the first retail CBDCs deployed in the world.
“It holds huge potentials for the Nigerian economy in terms of increasing cross-border trade, improving financial inclusion, strengthening social interventions, and bolstering Nigeria’s monetary policy and payments system.
“On the fiscal front, maximising the potential of digital currencies could be a panacea to the subsisting revenue challenge of government.
“It could be a tool for optimising tax revenue collection and improving public expenditure management in Nigeria,” he said.JAMB Result
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