The Central Bank of Nigeria’s eNaira wallet has become the first digital currency to go live in Africa.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the one issuing the eNaira wallet and the eNaira wallet has the same value as the Naira value.
eNaira is a digital currency that uses block chain technology and is Nigeria’s first digital currency platform.
The Central Bank of Nigeria said that eNaira will provide a unique form of money which will be denominated in Naira.
On Monday, October 25, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria officially launched the digital currency, Yester, at Abuja’s State House.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s eNaira wallet is supposed to guarantee secure, more convenient, and faster transactions with other banks in the country.
The eNaira wallet is a digital storage which holds the eNaira.
The Central Bank of Nigeria revealed that they received more than five thousand downloads of the e-Naira within a few hours of its launch.
The Central Bank of Nigeria said charges for any transaction on the e-Naira wallet will be free for the first 90 days after it was launched.
eNaira is the digital form of cash and it is the direct liability of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Customers can now access eNaira through the eNaira wallet in the Google Play store and the Apple App store.
Once customers have access to the wallet, they can use the eNaira wallet to receive and send money. The customer’s deposit will be a direct liability of the financial institutions like the deposit banks and CBN.
Users can also dial a USSD short code and follow the required steps to perform transactions.
The eNaira has the same value as the physical naira. Hence, one naira will be exchanged for one eNaira and vice versa.
Commercial deposit banks said transactions with e-Naira can guarantee;
- 99.9% service availability and reliability. Instant settlement
- No dispensing errors.
- Charges are minimal.
- Nationwide acceptance.
- No reconciliation issues.
- Advanced data privacy and security
- No dispensing errors.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria guidelines, accessing, using, and spending the eNaira wallet will be type by type based on the role of each participant.
