The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is clearly losing the fight to save the naira from total collapse. The naira dropped to N670/$1 in the parallel market on Tuesday, compounding Nigeria’s inflation.
The apex bank has blamed the naira’s ordeal on many things, including people. But it has also taken measures to prevent it from falling to the ground. One of the measures is the eNaira – a central bank digital currency (CDBC) launched after the CBN banned financial institutions from carrying out cryptocurrency transactions because it is sabotaging the naira.
But like every other measure that has been taken by the financial regulator to protect the naira, the eNaira has failed to live up to expectations – and like in every other case of its failures, the CBN has someone to blame.
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Last week, the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele attributed the eNaira’s failure to “apathy” by bankers who are doing their best to discourage their customers from using the app.
Following the launch of the eNaira in October, Emefiele admitted that it will pose a threat to traditional banking as it requires banks’ customers moving funds from their bank accounts to their eNaira digital wallets.
Though the digital currency recorded over 700,000 downloads in its first quarter, it has failed to maintain the momentum – undermining its purpose.
After blaming the apathy on banks, Emefiele admitted that there is a need for more enlightenment for the eNaira. He thus urged Nigerians to download the app and also transfer funds from their bank accounts into their wallets.
“There may be a little bit resistance to you from the banks. This is because moving that money from your account into your wallet is a disadvantage to the banks. I want to say so boldly and bluntly. It is a disadvantage to them. I will say very bluntly, because I am a banker myself, there is apathy by the banks because they know that they will lose some income if you insist on using your eNaira wallet for transactions,” Emefiele said.
Urging Nigerians to embrace the CBDC, he added that using the enaira “is almost costless at least till today. So you should go and tell your bank that you want your account to be linked to your wallet. It will cost you little or nothing compared to those other products that you have that would cost you money in the bank.”
However, Emefiele announced the new steps the CBN is taking to promote the eNaira. He said the apex bank is working with MTN Nigeria to activate the use of USSD code for eNaira transactions in the country. In addition, he disclosed that the CBN in conjunction with the Bankers Committee will be ramping up its enlightenment programmes to increase sustained awareness on the eNaira.
“We have been focused up till now on the banked population. We are almost completing tests with MTN to provide a channel where the unbanked can onboard using the code *997#. We believe that once this is done, we are going to be targeting the unbanked population. And we are also going to be using agency banking arrangements available and other means to ensure that we drive our enaira product.
“I must say that the eNaira is the product that has the lowest cost in terms of you moving money electronically from one location to another location. Today I am aware that people are now using the eNaira on Remita.net to make purchases. You can make payment for DSTV using the eNaira you can pay government bills. You can buy airtime and you can conduct a host of other transactions through the eNaira at the lowest possible cost,” he said.
However, experts believe that publicity will not change the situation because apathy toward the eNaira stems from many factors but particularly, the value of the naira.
Last week, Emefiele warned Nigerians to desist from using the naira to buy dollar, threatening to prosecute anyone found doing so. The warning, which came disappointing to Nigerians who are already tired of the apex bank’s blame game, signals growing apathy toward the naira itself.
With the naira rapidly heading toward N700/$1, Nigerians are converting their savings to dollars to preserve its value.