The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that Bitt Inc., an international fintech firm, has been appointed as the Technical Partner for its digital currency, dubbed eNaira, which would be presented later this year.
This is according to a recent circular issued on the 30th of August, 2021 and signed by Osita Nwanisobi the Director, Corporate Communications.
It stated that “This development was disclosed in Abuja by the Governor of the Central Bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who listed the benefits of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to include increased cross-border trade, accelerated financial inclusion, cheaper and faster remittance inflows, easier targeted social interventions, as well as improvements in monetary policy effectiveness, payment systems efficiency, and tax collection.
Project Giant, as the Nigerian CBDC pilot is known, has been a long and thorough process for the CBN, with the Bank’s decision to digitize the Naira in 2017, following extensive research and explorations. Given the significant explosion in the use of digital payments and the rise in the digital economy, the CBN’s decision follows an unmistakable global trend in which over 85 percent of Central Banks are now considering adopting digital currencies in their countries.
The CBN’s selection of Bitt Inc, from among highly competitive bidders, was hinged on the company’s technological competence, efficiency, platform security, interoperability, and implementation experience.
In choosing Bitt Inc, the CBN will rely on the company’s tested and proven digital currency experience, which is already in circulation in several Eastern Caribbean Countries. Bitt Inc. was key to the development and successful launch of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) in April 2021.”
What you should know
CBN recently sent a presentation to Nigerian banks about the eNaira project, revealing more details about its design and operational module. The presentation described how the new currency would be designed and operated.
The detailed presentation sent to Nigerian banks on the e-Naira project mentioned that it will have a transaction limit for customers, non-interest-bearing CBDC status, and an account value limit.
The presentation stated that a fifty-thousand-naira limit is in place for Send & Receive, the minimum requirement is the individual’s National Identity Number (NIN), which will be validated. A cumulative balance of three hundred thousand naira is fixed each day.
Banks in Nigeria would be able to ask all of their customers to sign up for the e-Naira. In addition to pre-generated codes, banks can issue onboarding invitation codes to a specified group of customers. Customers who have been assigned a code by their banks will be onboarded.
