I will not write much here to avoid stress on some people. But let me tell everyone that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is planning a huge redesign in the architecture of the financial systems in Nigeria. From my analysis of what is happening, this is the destination: the government wants clear visibility on financial flows in the nation. This is going to become a new dawn in Nigeria. And I think it is a good playbook.

The abolition of the bureau de change is necessary for the upcoming rise of e-Naira. Largely, there is nothing BDCs do that commercial banks cannot do today. Many Nigerians who want to transact in multiple currencies can open domiciliary accounts on top of their naira accounts.  Yes, you can buy $100, facilitated by your bank, by merely debiting and crediting the right accounts. If that happens, the nation will have clearer insights on the state of things. 

The Director, Information Technology Department, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Rakiyat Mohammed, stated at the banker’s committee meeting that the apex bank will be launching a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) before the end of 2021: “As I said, before the end of the year, the Central Bank will be making special announcement and possibly launching a pilot scheme in order to be able to provide this kind of currency to its populace.” This follows a statement by the bank governor a few weeks ago: “Under cryptocurrency and Bitcoin, Nigeria comes 2nd while in the global side of the economy, Nigeria comes 27th. We are still conducting our investigation and we will make our data available.”

The BDCs do not offer that level of insights and as we move to the new age of e-Naira digital currency, the apex bank will like to work with commercial banks who have our full data (biometrics, photos, etc) to begin that transition to a quasi-banking era with the central bank.

The destination is evident: in 3 years, if everything goes as planned, Nigerians can indeed get US dollars directly from the central bank but disbursed via agents like commercial banks. In other words, we will have an account in the CBN headquarters and the bank can ascertain and track what is happening.

The future of Naira has no role for BDCs because the CBN through technology will do what BDCs do today. Expect massive redesigns as the Central Bank of Nigeria goes retail, via e-Naira digital currency. The new digital currency is expected to be piloted in Q4 2021 and will possibly go live at scale in 2022.

In Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 6, we will discuss these issues through a Special Case Study I have developed: Business Opportunities in the New Era of Sovereign Digital Currencies like e-Naira, e-Euro, e-Yuan and e-Dollars – Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe. I invite you to join us.

LinkedIn Comment on Feed

Comment #1: This should have been executed generations ago; but a good playbook non the less. And one that can be cheered even if the ramifications on the economy will be significant in the short term and hopefully not long term. If frictions in the banks selling and transacting between the naira and foreign currencies becomes flawless, then this move can be declared a win for the nation.

Unfortunately too many roads lead to and from the CBN that are not visible to the majority of the populace. If political might is stretched, someone may lose their job quite quickly or become an unjust target. I believe the CBN can be extensively innovative with the e-naira if they decide to be and can cause significant progress to be made in the current monetary playbook that has not made the positive impacts that has been expected.

The final quarter may be a bumpy ride in the nation. We hope the light at the end of the tunnel is not another candle light.

Comment #2: This is interesting, thanks for sharing Prof. Ndubuisi Ekekwe It is however pertinent to add that #CBDCs are not without limitations especially as it concern interoperability of the technology for cross-border payments and proactivity in international cooperation by monetary authorities. This is in echoed in the Bank for International Settlements – BIS report on CBDCs. Only time will tell where the road will lead us, game on!

By Q4 2022, Central Bank of Nigeria will Exchange Dollars Directly with Nigerians and Companies via e-Naira Digital Currency

Young people, this is a message for you. In anything you do in markets, do not simply conform to the settled ordinance. Yes, when you launch, many will tell you to become like this company, because for most, that is what they are used to. Interestingly, if you follow them, you will lose your mission. Think about it: how would you be different if you become like others?

That takes me to Tekedia Mini-MBA: many want us to partner with UK, US or Canadian universities. For them, that is what everyone does. My response has been: “if your motivation is to have a certificate that has a ‘university’ on it, you can find many online. Look at Udacity, the world’s leading digitech trainer and its clarity that it has no plan of being a university or being accredited”. Google, Amazon and some of the BigTech train therein.

You know what? There are many reasons for that. If we become accredited, instead of using a CEO of a logistics company to reach the logistics and supply chain course, we  would be forced to look for one engaged or disengaged PhD holder. Yes, the PhD is the qualification irrespective of the readiness to impact knowledge. I prefer to use the CEO of a fintech company to teach fintech than a professor of finance (or tech) who has never worked outside a university.

As I have written extensively in Harvard, winning in today’s market requires going beyond Needs and Expectations of customers, but Perceptions of customers.  You cannot anchor that Perception if you just build to conform to what everyone is doing. 

A Lagos big bank is sending us its early level staff to work with. We are very humble to note that it has all the funds to send them to the regular “universities” but it wants them to come to a school that does things in new ways. The first course begins next month and the CIO of India’s finest digital bank will open it for us. A Managing Director of a US bank region comes. By the time they are done with us, they will understand the world of banking at deeper levels and at a globalized depth.

Find your voice in the market – and try not to calibrate out what makes you unique. Sure, in the next coming weeks, we will have a university partner which can offer a paper to those who want to see “university” in their Tekedia certificates. We understand. But our core will remain being great on the education of entrepreneurial capitalism on the tenets of Innovation, Growth and Business Execution.

Do not conform – pioneer your path!

His job is to secure the integrity of autonomous vehicles for BMW Group’s future diving machines. He is an IAM Engineer (Identity and Access Management Engineer) and holds a PhD in Computer Science with focus on Network and Information Security from Universidade do Porto. He had earned an MSc in Computer Security and Forensics from the University of Bedfordshire. He is part of our Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics Faculty.

Dr Francis Nwebonyi in a team at the forefront of creating the next generation software systems for vehicles of the future. And certainly, when it comes to digital security, we like those who hold extremely critical positions in such domains. Dr Nwebonyi will be at Tekedia Live, the Zoom session of Tekedia Mini-MBA, to offer management-level understanding of the domain. I have told him “no geek tech”! Lol. 

Yes, this will be all management and business insights on how we can build secure businesses in this digital era. 

• Thur, July 29 | 7pm-8pm WAT | Information Security & Digital Forensics – Dr. Francis Nwebonyi, Critical TechWorks, Portugal

Tekedia Mini-MBA: learn from the best here.

This is what legends do; they buy seats at the table. Yes, Jeff Bezos continues to shape his world. If they say it is money, give it to them – and then join the party. If that party is estimated to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars, this $2 billion is a pure “equity investment” for that future: “NASA may have chosen Elon Musk’s SpaceX over Blue Origin to build the spacecraft that will land the next Americans on the moon, but for Jeff Bezos, the race isn’t over. The world’s richest man has offered to spot the agency $2 billion in exchange for part of the moon landing contract. NASA originally awarded the contract solely to SpaceX due to budget constraints, but Bezos said he hopes waiving $2 billion will reopen the door to a joint contract.”

• Blue Origin will bridge the HLS budgetary funding shortfall by waiving all payments in the current and next two government fiscal years up to $2B to get the program back on track right now. This offer is not a deferral, but is an outright and permanent waiver of those payments. This offer provides time for government appropriation actions to catch up.
• Blue Origin will, at its own cost, contribute the development and launch of a pathfinder mission to low-Earth orbit of the lunar descent element to further retire development and schedule risks. This pathfinder mission is offered in addition to the baseline plan of performing a precursor uncrewed landing mission prior to risking any astronauts to the Moon. This contribution to the program is above and beyond the over $1B of corporate contribution cited in our Option A proposal that funds items such as our privately developed BE-7 lunar lander engine and indefinite storage of liquid hydrogen in space. All of these contributions are in addition to the $2B waiver of payments referenced above.

If the best real estate project of the future is in space, getting yourself to the gates now could be catalytic. Now, we will be waiting for NASA to respond. I am betting that Blue Origin will join the party and Bezos will have a big seat on the table. People make money for moments like this!

Oh yes, one man said that money is necessary to get yourself out of the inconveniences of life. With $2 billion, even space programs will align.