The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Obiora, has disclosed at the IMF African Department Speakers Series that the apex bank is introducing the Unstructured Supplementary (USSD) code to boost eNaira.
Driving the news
The introduction of the USSD code system by the Central Bank of Nigeria is to encourage Nigerians without smartphones to transact the digital currency, eNaira, on the designated platform.
What CBN is saying
- The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Obiora at the virtual meeting, said that the introduction of the USSD code would improve financial inclusion in Nigeria.
- Mr. Obiora Kingsley stated that the bank made the onboarding process on the eNaira platform easy for Nigerians, provided that the individual had a Bank Verification Number (BVN).
- The CBN boss cited the benefits of the CBDC as rapid financial inclusion, lower cash processing costs, direct welfare payments to citizens, and a reduction in the informal sector.
- Other benefits of CBDC are an increase in tax collection, improved payment efficiency, and lowered payment cost.
What you should know
- Africa’s first digital currency, eNaira, was listed by PwC in its 2022 report as the world’s leading retail digital currency with 756,000 app downloads.
- Users of eNaira have created over 660,000 speed wallets (as in December, 2021) with 90% of the recorded transactions being a reciprocal dealing of person to business and business to person.
- PwC gave eNaira an index value of 95 based on a BIS working paper, the World Bank, and PwC analysis.