According to a news report posted at On Thursday (7), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will launch eNaira, its own digital currency. The announcement was made by the governor of the Nigerian bank Godwin Emefiele during a video conference where he said that the currency will arrive in a few days.
The launch of this digital currency, according to the executive quoted by the "pplware" portal, will make Nigeria "one of the first countries in Africa, and indeed the world, to adopt the digitalization of its national currency."
For now there is no unanimity on the subject of cryptocurrencies. For some it is nothing more than a fraudulent scheme aimed at making easy money, for others it is the future as far as the market and the financial sector are concerned.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had already announced its plans to launch its own digital currency this year after the African country banned banks and financial institutions from trading or facilitating transactions through cryptocurrencies in February.
Earlier, Emefiele had mentioned that the eNaira currency would act as a wallet where customers could keep existing funds in their bank accounts, which would accelerate financial inclusion and also allow cheaper and faster remittance flows.
The CBN has for now named Barbados-based Bitt Inc as its technical partner for the development of the eNaira digital currency.