Nigeria Is Altering eNaira Model to Promote Use of the Digital Currency: Central Bank

Nigeria is changing its eNaira model to encourage more use of the central bank digital currency (CBDC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Acting Governor Folashodun Shonubi said Wednesday according to a post on the bank's Twitter account.

The west African country has been working to push for broader adoption of the currency, which was introduced in October 2021. Even though the number of eNaira wallets jumped more than 12-fold to 13 million between October 2022 and March this year, that's a small number for a country with a population of close to 224 million.

To boost the service offering and make it more user friendly, CBN upgraded its eNaira app to enable contactless payments, local news outlet The Sun reported earlier in July. The bank didn't provide details of planned changes to the eNaira model and hadn't responded to a request for more information by publication time.

For many, using the eNaira isn't straightforward. In March, the central bank said the value of eNaira transactions up to that point in the year was 22 billion naira ($48 million at the time). The country has a $220 billion informal economy that thrives on cash and has too few merchants and little infrastructure for extensive eNaira use.

Read more: Why Nigerians Aren't Turning to the eNaira Despite Crippling Cash Shortages