Nigeria’s eNaira CBDC Goes Live

Nigeria’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira, is live following an announcement by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday.

• The official unveiling of the eNaira – designed to complement Nigeria’s physical currency, not replace it – took place Monday having been announced last week.

• The eNaira was developed by fintech company Bitt, whose digital currency management system (DCMS) is also behind the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s CBDC.

• Two applications for using the CBDC – eNaira speed wallet and eNaira merchant wallet – are available for download from the Google and Apple app stores.

• The eNaira was originally slated for launch on Oct. 1, but was delayed in deference to the 61st anniversary of Nigerian independence that same day.

• Some 500 million eNaira ($1.21 million) have already been minted, central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said at the official launch.

• Nigeria’s government and central bank struggled with the rise of cryptocurrency in the country, leading to a ban on crypto transactions within the banking sector in February. Four months later, plans were announced to introduce the eNaira.