The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, on Thursday, disclosed that eNaira has recorded over 200,000 transaction volumes worth N4 billion since the country’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) was launched last October.

The eNaira was created to give Nigerians alternative to cryptocurrency that swept through the country as an asset and means of payment. Since 2021, the CBN has been seeking ways to increase the use of the eNaira by eliminating barriers to its adoption.

Part of the efforts to promote eNaira’s adoption is the proposed introduction of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data code (USSD) made earlier in the year. Emefiele said effective next week, Nigerians, both banked and unbanked, would be able to open eNaira wallet and conduct transactions by simply dialing *997# (USSD) code from their phones.

Emefiele was speaking at the opening of the Grand Finale of the eNaira Hackathon in Abuja. He said the world was now in the digital dispensation and that the use of cash will soon dissipate to zero as digitization becomes part of human lives. The governor revealed that since the launch of the initiative, the eNaira has reached 840,000 downloads, with about 270,000 active wallets comprising over 252,000 consumer wallets and 17,000 merchant wallets.

He said both merchants and consumers with bank accounts can use the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) to transfer and receive eNaira to any bank account, adding that this will further deepen the integration of the eNaira with the existing national payment infrastructure.

The CBN has been pushing for further financial inclusion in Nigeria, a cause it said the eNaira will help to attain. The CBN Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, Dr. Kingsley Obiora, said the value of e-business transactions had grown from N39.3 billion in 2014, to about N2.4 trillion in 2022.

The apex bank is apparently building on the progress of the digital finance adoption to expand the use of eNaira. Emefiele said efforts toward building the future monetary system of the country is in response to the emerging trends and developments in the global digital space.

“Pursuant to achieving its mandate of preserving monetary and financial stability, the CBN is, strategic in charting the future of Nigeria’s legal tender, be it in its traditional or digital form as the economy transits to a digital one as well as charting the course for innovation in the financial sector and in the infrastructure underpinning financial markets,” he said.

The CBN governor further said the eNaira is timely and strategic in complementing the various diversification and digitization initiatives of the federal government including the launch of the Nigeria Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), the National Broadband Strategy, as well as the introduction of the Start-Up Bill and a host of others.

“Innovative products and services built on the eNaira would enhance Nigerians’ participation in the digital economy and promote further development of a burgeoning Fintech ecosystem.

“To achieve these set-out objectives, the project adopted a phased- approach with the first phase focusing on banked users, while the policy objective of the second phase borders around financial inclusion.

“In addition, the eNaira platform possesses an innovation layer for products and services to be built with the aim of enhancing Nigerians’ participation in the digital economy and promoting further development of a burgeoning Fintech ecosystem,” he said.

The CBN said the eNaira Hackathon, which was embraced by tech experts and stakeholders in the financial industry, is evidence of the CBDC’s growth potential. A total of 4,667, made up of 4,082 male and 582 female young applicants, registered for the eNaira hackathon.

“Therefore, today’s event is targeted at providing an engagement with critical stakeholders in the financial technology space to deepen the link between eNaira and Fintechs.

“From the presentations made over the course of this eNaira Hackathon, I am confident that it will unravel a pool of talents that would fuel the transformation of Nigeria into a world-class digital economy and beyond,” Emefiele said.

This is not a laughing matter but everywhere in Nigeria, someone is chasing someone, in the financial sector. Now the consumer protection watchdog has recruited fintechs to chase online lenders. But you know what? These fintech companies have no chance since some of these online lenders are NOT even registered in Nigeria. It is like a voodoo how they still operate with bank accounts to cause so many problems.

Like I explained in a banking conference in South Africa when someone tried to emphasize Nigeria’s paltry national budget (~ $42 billion depending on your exchange rate) to South Africa’s $157 billion, Nigeria is a place where most things are outside the power of governments. In South Africa, you pay taxes on your properties and lands.

 In Nigeria, there is nothing like that at scale and people keep their funds. If you include those informal non-receivables, Nigeria’s budget would be much higher (a 0.5% annual tax on properties and lands in Lagos, Abuja and River State will add so much to the respective jurisdictional/national budgets). Unfortunately for the government, the money is with the people and there is nothing to spend.

That explains why a lending company has become invisible and invincible because the government has no way to stop it since it never even registered with the government! In physics, you have optical illusion; here, you have financial illusion. You keep chasing but you never get there.

 Read the head of the consumer protection (FCCPC), Mr. Babatunde Irukera.

“The information available to the commission demonstrates that Soko Lending appears to be the most consequential digital money lender with multiple apps and brand names.

“It is covering a significant share of the digital or online lending market, and one of the most prolific actors in violating consumer privacy, fair lending terms, and ethical loan repayment/recovery practices.

“Prior to this operation, the commission had previously, on March 11, 2022, carried out a similar enforcement action with respect to multiple lenders; which action and continuing investigation has reduced previously high and escalating unethical, obnoxious, and unscrupulously exploitative practices in the industry.

“With the operations today, the commission expects an appreciable additional reduction in these unacceptable practices. The commission has also today entered further Orders that will disable or diminish violators’ ability to devise circumvention efforts or alternative mechanisms to circumvent the objective of the investigation and protection of citizens.’’  executive chairman of FCCPC, Mr. Babatunde Irukera 

FCCPC Has Barred All Fintechs From Providing Payments Or Transaction Services To Online Money Lenders in Nigeria