As expected, the website of eNaira, Nigeria’s digital currency, has gone live and generated over a million visits in only the first 24-hours.
Access to the website is coming a few days to the official launch of the digital currency on October 1 as earlier disclosed by the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele.
The site, on its welcome note said the eNaira is a Central Bank of Nigeria-issued digital currency that provides a unique form of money denominated in Naira.
The note says:
eNaira serves as both a medium of exchange and a store of value, offering better payment prospects in retail transactions when compared to cash payments. eNaira has an exclusive operational structure that is both remarkable and nothing like other forms of central bank money.
There are several benefits from a central bank-issued digital currency in Nigeria, and this cuts across different sectors of, and concerns of the economy.
Central Bank of Nigeria
Earlier, the central bank stated that eNaira is a legal tender just like the naira and that it must be accepted by all merchants and business outlets in the country as a form of payment.
The digital currency, Nigeria’s first, was developed by Bitt Inc., a Barbados-based fintech company. The Central Bank owns a majority stake in the company once registered in Nigeria.
On the choice of Bitt Inc. instead of a Nigerian fintechs, Mr Emefiele said the CBN went through a “rigorous” vendor selection process and Bitt came first with an average of 82.3 per cent, scoring above the other five bidders.
From October 1, he said Nigerians should be able to download the eNaira application from either Google play store or Apple app store.
He said:
They should be able to find their wallets using their bank accounts and conduct transactions such as transfers and purchases at merchant outlets that have boarded to the platform.
Godwin Emefiele
