The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, said the eNaira recorded N8 billion worth of transactions in the one year since its launch.
The apex bank governor disclosed this in Lagos at a conference to mark the first anniversary of the digital currency.
Emefiele also mentioned that plans would be unveiled by the CBN and the Bankers’ Committee to ensure that the cashless policy is implemented throughout the country. He added that the central bank has spent a lot of money to adopt a cashless economy.
What the CBN is saying
Emefiele said “there has been overwhelming interest and encouraging response from Nigerians and other parties across the world, with 33 banks fully integrated and live on the platform. N3 billion has been successfully minted by the bank, N2.10 billion issued to financial institutions and about one million (919,000) customers onboarded.
“Over 3,305 merchants have successfully registered on the eNaira platform across the country, including Shoprite, Sahad Stores, A.A. Rano fuel stations, Fraser Suites, and November Cubes, among others. Over 700,000 transactions amounting to about N8 billion have been recorded on the platform and over 2.5 million daily visits to the eNaira website.”
Speaking further on the CBN’s plan to make Nigeria fully cashless, he said: “Banks have incurred a lot of costs in an attempt to embrace a cashless economy. We also had collaborations with mobile networks and had payment service banks (PSB) using all sorts of channels. The destination, as far as I am concerned, is to achieve a 100% cashless economy in Nigeria. I know that those who doubt will say that 100% cashless is unattainable.”
He also asserted that the CBN had created a conducive environment for cashless policies, saying: “I want to say we have provided all the needed infrastructure that will enable us to make cashless a nationwide journey. It is not something that some of us will like, but we would in the coming weeks and months make pronouncements that must make cashless go nationwide. I believe part of those pronouncements will begin from tomorrow and there will be some breaking news tomorrow.”
“Even the bankers’ committee will hold a special bankers’ committee meeting tomorrow to deliberate on this, so let us expect the news.”
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