Key Highlights
- Egbewole advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to make the e-Naira policy accessible to Nigerians abroad to facilitate the settlement of their international transactions.
- The VC lamented that it was sad to see people from less developed countries using their bank cards outside their territories while Nigerians from a better and bigger economy were stranded.
- PwC recently adjudged the CBN’s Digital Currency (CBDC) as the best retail project index of central banks globally in 2022.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Olasupo –Egbewole has observed that Nigerians who travel abroad find it difficult to spend or use any Nigeria account anywhere in the world.
Egbewole who stated this on Monday when he received members of a delegation from the CBN and Zenith Bank Plc, who paid him a courtesy visit in Ilorin said the difficulty being witnessed by Nigerians is not a palatable experience.
The delegation was on the university campus to sensitize the students and staff of the institution to the e-Naira policy tagged “Road map to e-Naira: An initiative of CBN in partnership with Zenith Bank”.
Acceptance of the e-Naira policy
Egbewole advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to make the e-Naira policy accessible to Nigerians abroad to facilitate the settlement of their international transactions.
The professor of Jurisprudence and International Law, urged the CBN to facilitate the acceptance of the e-Naira policy outside the shores of Nigeria, stressing that Nigeria would be making a statement in the comity of nations if this was achieved.
Lamentation
While welcoming the e-Naira initiative for accommodating offline transactions for the sake of unbanked Nigerians, Egbewole lamented that it was sad to see people from less developed countries using their bank cards outside their territories while Nigerians from a better and bigger economy were stranded.
Retail project index
In his presentation, the Project Manager of e-Naira in the CBN, Mr. Fadele Adeolu, said the Price Waterhouse Coopers’ (PwC) recently adjudged the CBN’s Digital Currency (CBDC) as the best retail project index of central banks globally in 2022, which shows the level of work done on the policy by the CBN.
He explained that the e-Naira came to strengthen and enhance the existing payment channels and was not intended to replace or disrupt them.
Existing currency
Adeolu added that nothing had changed in the existing currency except the benefit such as payment efficiency, low cost of transactions, and payment transparency that the new policy brought to life.
While making further clarification on how it would benefit the University system, the e-Naira Project Manager explained that the CBN team has been engaging with the Accountant-General of the Federation and a committee was set up to look at the Treasury Single Account.
He said that the committee would soon come up with how government disbursement could be received via the e-Naira platform.
The project manager, however, said that the relationship between the University of Ilorin and the CBN was strategic and significant because the University was a research institution and the e-Naira idea was a product of research.
What you should know
eNaira is a Central Bank of Nigeria-issued digital currency that provides a unique form of money denominated in Naira. eNaira serves as both a medium of exchange and a store of value, offering better payment prospects in retail transactions when compared to cash payments.
