Nigeria targets millions of new eNaira users as it increases functionality and targets the unbanked

Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele told eNaira hackathon attendees that technical upgrades would boost the attractiveness and CBDC accessibility.

eNaira, the digital currency of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBDC), will enter the second phase of its expansion with new technology to strengthen its user base, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria said on Thursday. Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, during the eNaira 2022 hackathon in Abuja. . eNaira, Africa's first CBDC, was launched in October 2021.

“The eNaira is a journey, not a one-time event,” Emefiele said, adding:

"We have no choice but to live with the fact that we are now in a digital economy, in a digital space, where cash users will drop to almost zero."

“The second phase of the project has begun and aims to foster financial inclusion by integrating unbanked and underserved users […] with a target of approximately 8 million active users,” Emefiele continued. The CBDC has recorded approximately 840,000 downloads, with approximately 270,000 active wallets, including 252,000 consumer wallets. There were approximately 200,000 transactions worth 4 billion naira (about $9.5 million at the official exchange rate).

Related: CBDC activity is ramping up, but few projects move past the pilot stage

The central bank will incorporate Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) “by next week,” Emefiele said, to allow users to create eNaira wallets by dialing a four-digit code on their mobile phones , whether or not they have bank accounts . After that, users with bank accounts will be able to use the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System...