Nigeria, which has attracted just 840,000 users for its digital currency since October, is seeking to boost adoption of the e-naira almost 10-fold in the next 12 months by luring people without bank accounts.
The Central Bank of Nigeria is targeting 8 million users in the “second phase” of the digital currency’s expansion, central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said Thursday in Abuja, the capital.
“Just like the naira, the e-naira is expected to be available to all Nigerians and will provide more possibilities to bring the unbanked into the digital economy,” Emefiele said during the finals of a central bank-sponsored hackathon to build products around the e-naira. The steady depreciation of the naira has seen many residents of Africa’s most populous nation pivot toward cryptocurrencies, even though the central bank ordered commercial lenders to stop transactions or operations in digital tokens. While there are 270,000 active users of e-naira, as many as 33.
While the e-naira is an exciting project, accelerating inflation and a weakening currency have deterred its adoption, said Keturah Ovio, chief executive officer of book-keeping startup Dukka. “To drive adoption, the central bank has to take initiatives to drive down inflation and improve trust in the local currency.”
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