The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has urged Nigerians to use eNaira and internet banking instead of cash.
eNaira is a central bank digital currency issued and regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria. It serves as both a medium of exchange and a store of value and claims to offer better payment prospects in retail transactions when compared to cash
Osita Nwanisobi, Director of Corporate Communications at CBN, stated at the recently concluded 44th Kaduna International Trade Fair that the Nigerian payment system infrastructure could handle the surge in transaction volumes across all payment channels.
Following the implementation of the naira redesign policy, citizens have struggled to obtain naira notes from banking halls and automated teller machines (ATMs), according to the CBN Director.
Mohammed Abbah, CBN’s Director of capacity development, represented Nwasinobi at the event.
On the naira redesign policy, he said the initiative was not aimed at any individual, as was insinuated in the public domain.
“The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has always said that the policy is not targeted at anyone or any group of persons, rather, it is derived from the bank’s in-house analysis to strengthen our macroeconomic fundamentals and better our socio-economic conditions,” Nwanisobi said.
“The principal aim of the bank, with the currency redesign initiative, is to make our monetary policy decisions more efficacious.
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“Nigerians will observe that there has been a downward trend in inflation, and the exchange rates have been relatively stable.”
“Furthermore, we aim to increase financial inclusion in the country by reducing the number of unbanked people.”
“Thirdly, we aim to support the efforts of our security agencies in combating banditry and ransom-taking in Nigeria through this program.”
The CBN director said the apex bank was aware of the challenges some citizens have had to face in the past few weeks in efforts to get money from their banks.
He said that there have been reports of occasional transaction failures on alternative payment channels.
“However, we wish to assure you that the Nigerian payment system infrastructure is robust enough to handle the surging transaction volumes across all channels,” Nwanisobi said.
“We, therefore, urge Nigerians to embrace alternative payment channels, such as e-Naira and internet banking, as we embrace the cashless policy.”
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