e-Naira: Nigeria launches first digital currency in Africa

By Abdul Kimera

On Monday 25th October, the central bank of Nigeria finally launched the digital currency called the e-Naira, the first on the continent amidst criticism from some Nigerians.

The launch at the presidential villa in the capital Abuja was officiated by president  Muhammadu Buhari and the central bank governor Godwin Emefiele.

The digital currency that aims to serve as both a medium of exchange and a better payment prospect in retail transactions was first scheduled to be launched on 1st October was delayed due to the many activities for the countries 61st-anniversary celebrations.

The digital currency was designed with two applications namely the eNaira and the eNaira merchant wallet that were also launched on the Google play store and Apple store on the same day.

In his explanation Mr. Godwin the governor said that the eNaira and the physical Naira are the same legal tender and will have the same value hence accepted anywhere in the country.

He also added that by the time of the launch 33 banks were fully integrated and live on the platform with over 120 merchants successfully registered on the e-naira platform.

The eNaira was hugely adopted by Nigerians in the first 24hours after the launch as it registered over 100,000 downloads amidst some users’ complaints about some glitches.

Reports of the failure and the crushing of google store were also reported.

Economic experts warned that the North African country will have far-reaching implications for the future of the banking sector when the eNaira is fully rolled out.

Uche Uwaleke a renowned professor of finance and capital market at Nasarawa University said that without doubt, this launch will produce unintended consequences and is bound to create winners and losers.