By Elizabeth Adegbesan

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reported a marginal increase in the adoption of eNaira, with N13.98 billion of the digital currency  making up part of the N3.65 trillion currency-in-circulation as at December 2023

Data from the CBN quarterly Economic Statistical tables for December 2023 showed that the portion of eNaira from currency in circulation increased year-on-year by 0.3 percentage points when compared to 0.08 percent recorded in 2022. 

According to the apex bank, as at December ending  2022, the portion of eNaira  from currency in circulation (N3.01 trillion) was N2.55 billion.  

This showed an increase in adoption of eNaira and its wallet introduced by the CBN and launched on 25 October 2021 by former President Muhammad Buhari, under the slogan: “Same Naira, More Possibilities”.

The report also showed that the amount of eNaira for the period represented 0.38 percent of the total amount in circulation.

According to CBN, eNaira is a central bank digital currency (CBDC) backed by law, the full sovereignty of Nigeria, issued by the CBN as a legal tender.

It is the digital form of the Naira and is used just like cash. The eNaira wallet is a digital storage that holds the eNaira. The eNaira wallet is required to access, hold and use eNaira, which is a unit of account, store of value and medium of exchange.

The Federal Government  aims to expand usage of its eNaira digital currency by attracting users without bank accounts after a first phase adoption saw 850,000 downloads by bank customers. Recall that in April 2023  the apex bank unveiled a farmers programmable money tagged Agro eNaira platform for 50 farmers to drive the agricultural value chain of the Federal Government in Adamawa state.

Similarly, in December, Flutterwave, a fintech firm, announced  adding the eNaira as a payment option for merchants to  boost the  adoption of the digital currency.