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Tag: eNaira

  • No cause for alarm on eNaira, says CBN

    No cause for alarm on eNaira, says CBN

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has assured Nigerians that its digital currency. eNaira posed no threat to financial stability.

    The Director, Corporate Communications Department of CBN, Dr Isa AbdulMumin said this on Monday in Marrakech.

    AbdulMumin was reacting to a recent media report that raised concerns about Nigeria’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), eNaira, indicating potential risks to financial stability.

    The media report, quoting articles from a book recently released by the CBN indicated that in spite its success in narrowing the country’s financial inclusion gap, the eNaira was a potential threat to financial stability.

    It said that since its inception, bank deposit conversion to eNaira had exhibited an average monthly growth of 78.3 per cent and totaled about N1.66 billion.

    According to Abdulmumin, a review of the report indicates a lack of understanding of some portions of some articles in a book recently released by the CBN titled, “Economics of Digital Currencies’’.

    “A recurring theme in the book is the interest of regulators such as CBN in the role of cryptocurrencies as speculative investments and the potential threat they harbour for financial stability.

    “The articles in the book provide an in-depth understanding of CBDCs generally, and the workings of the Naira,’’ he said.

    The director assured that as the eNaira structure continued to evolve, it was undergoing modifications targeted at improving the user experience “across all interfaces’’.

    “We encourage Nigerians to embrace the technology for among other things, greater financial inclusion,’’ AbdulMumin said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the eNaira was initiated by the former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, and inaugurated in October 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Nigeria is the first African country to adopt the CBDC.

  • No deadline for going cashless – CBN

    No deadline for going cashless – CBN

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed there is no deadline for Nigeria to go cashless and that options are just being presented to widen payment platforms and make them available for Nigerians.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Mr Chika Ugwueze, CBN’s Assistant Director in charge of Payment System Management, made this disclosure on Monday.

    He made the disclosure at an awareness and sensitisation campaign on cashless policy and e-Naira for traders at the popular Watt Market in Calabar.

    The awareness campaign, put together by the CBN in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee, featured a popular Nollywood actor, Imeh Bishop-Umoh, popularly called “Okon Lagos”.

    Mr Ugwueze said the campaign was meant to sensitise the public on the CBN cashless policy as an alternative to cash usage in Nigeria.

    Ugwueze said that the CBN initiated the e-Naira platform as an alternative to cash.

    He explained that e-Naira was a digital form of cash that is stored in a wallet, hence all Nigerians are advised to download and use the e-Naira as an alternative to cash.

    “The important message to all Nigerians is that the e-Naira is not an alternative to your bank account, but an alternative to cash in your wallet because it offers efficiency in payment and improves security.

    “Generally, the e-Naira has helped to deepen the payment options in the market. The CBN has developed different platforms of using the e-Naira.

    “As long as you have a telephone in Nigeria, you can have access to the e-Naira

    “There is no deadline for going cashless; we are just presenting options that will widen payment platforms and make them available for Nigerians,” he said.

    Also speaking, Mr Thomas Udie, Relationship Manager, Access Bank, Calabar, said that the initiative was to create awareness on the cashless policy and e-Naira.

    Udie said that there was the need for traders and residents of the state to embrace the different platforms of electronic transactions with a view to reducing the movement of cash.

    According to him, Access bank branches in Calabar have no issues with cash disbursement to customers, adding that the CBN has been supplying them with cash for business.

    He said that the queues in most of the Access bank branches in Calabar metropolis have also reduced.

    Also, Mrs Ebere Bassey, Assistant Banking Officer, Zenith Bank, Calabar, said that the awareness was timely in view of the cashless policy of the CBN.

    Bassey encouraged the traders to embrace the electronic means of payment and reduce the over dependence on cash.

    One of the traders at the event, Mrs Theresa Okon,  said that although the policy was a good one, they still needed cash for their day-to-day businesses.

    Meanwhile, the Nollywood actor, who spoke in the Efik language, urged the traders to embrace electronic payment with a view to reducing movement of cash and to making transactions seamless.

  • BREAKING: CBN puts restriction on cash withdrawal

    BREAKING: CBN puts restriction on cash withdrawal

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced a new policy that mandates banks and other financial institutions to ensure that over-the-counter cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate entities do not exceed N100,000 and N500,000, respectively, per week.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the revised cash withdrawal limits are contained in a circular issued by CBN on Tuesday, which the apex bank says will take effect nationwide on January 9, 2023.

    The new policy stated that the maximum cash withdrawal via automated teller machine shall be restricted to N100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day and further restricted point of sales (POS) withdrawal to N20,000 daily.

    It further stated that only denominations of N200 and below shall be loaded in automated teller machine (ATM).

    The new policy, according to CBN encourages customers to use alternative channels such as internet banking, Mobile banking app, USSD, eNaira, e.t.c. for financial transactions.

    After the policy takes effect, all cash withdrawals in excess of the stated limits will attract processing fees of 5% and 10%, respectively.

    The new policy is coming barely weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari launched the newly redesigned N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes.

    ALSO READ || UPDATE: Read full statement by CBN restricting cash withdrawal

  • Redesign of Naira likely to have positive impact on its value – Emefiele

    Redesign of Naira likely to have positive impact on its value – Emefiele

    The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, says the proposed redesigning of the Naira could impact positively on its value.

    Emefiele said this while announcing plans by the apex bank to put redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 denominations in circulation from Dec. 15.

    According to him, though that is not the major intention for changing the currency, it can come as one of its advantages.

    Emefiele said that significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, worsening shortage clean and fit banknotes and increasing cases and risk of counterfeiting informed the decision.

    “Statistics show that more than 85 per cent of currency in circulation are outside the vaults of our commercial banks.

    “As at the end of September, N2.7 trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currencies in circulation was outside the vaults of commercial banks across the country.

    “Evidently, currency in circulation has more than doubled since 2015 rising from N1.46 trillion as at Dec. 2015, to N3.23 trillion as at Sept. 2022.

    “This is a worrisome trend that cannot continue to be allowed, ” he said.

    According to Emefiele, recent developments in photography technology and advancement in printing devices have also made counterfeiting of the Naira relatively easier.

    He said that the apex bank was determined to arrest the situation forthwith.

    “In recent times, the CBN has recorded significantly higher cases of counterfeiting, especially at the higher denominations of N500 and N1,000 banknotes.

    “Although, global best practice is for central banks to redesign, produce and circulate new legal tenders every five to eight years, our existing series of banknotes has not been redesigned in the last 20 years.

    “The CBN remains resolutely determined to achieve the objective of its mandate as enshrined in the CBN Act.

    “It is, therefore, no longer tenable to continue with business as usual, especially given the continually evolving circumstances that could impede the optimal performance of our Naira,” he said.

    He said that the step taken by the CBN to redesign the Naira would also help deepen the drive to entrench a cashless economy.

    “It will be complemented by increased minting of the eNaira. This will further reign in on currency outside the banking system into the banking system, thus making monetary policy more efficacious,” he said.

    He said that the step would also help to check crimes like terrorism and kidnapping.

    “Access to large volumes of money outside the banking system used as source of ransome would begin to dry up ” he said.

  • Return old Naira notes to CBN vault now – Emefiele tells Nigerians

    Return old Naira notes to CBN vault now – Emefiele tells Nigerians

    As the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) prepares to redesign the 200, 500 and 1000 Naira notes, the apex bank has asked Nigerians to return the old Naira notes to the bank’s vault.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele made this disclosure on Wednesday at a special press briefing in Abuja, the federal capital territory (FCT).

    Emefiele disclosed that Nigerians have until January 31st 2023 to return the old Naira notes to the CBN and get the redesigned notes in return.

    “Timeline for mopping up, I will say, today is 26th. So, we have about 6 or 7 days to the end of October till January 31 2023. That is almost about 100 days.

    “I think that is adequate to mop up the currency out of circulation back to the vault of the CBN,” Emefiele said.

    For those who do not have an account, the CBN Governor advised that they should go to the nearest bank branch and that an account would be opened for them for the purpose of returning the old Naira notes.

    “If you are carrying cash, you can go to the nearest bank branch near you, they will take your cash and open an account for you for the purpose of returning the old Naira into the bank’s vault and then collecting the new Naira [notes] when we begin to release them,” Emefiele said.

    According to the CBN Governor, the redesign will take effect from Thursday, December 15, 2022.

    CBN set to make Nigeria predominantly cashless economy

    Earlier, Emefiele had on Tuesday in Lagos State revealed plans by the CBN to take decisive steps to ensure that Nigeria operated a 100 per cent cashless economy. The CBN Governor made the assertion at the first-year anniversary of the Central Bank Digital Currency, the eNaira.

    “The destination as far as I am concerned is to achieve a 100 per cent cashless economy in Nigeria. I know that those who doubt us will say that 100 per cent cashless is unattainable. Yes, it is true! But, Nigeria must move from being a predominantly cash economy to a predominantly cashless economy.

    “At this time, I can say from what I have read from online banking to introducing the POS to ATMs, to mobile banking, working and collaborating with the Ministry of Education, I want to say that we have provided all the necessary infrastructure that should enable us make cashless a nationwide journey.

    “It is not something that some of us will like but, we would in the coming weeks and months make pronouncements that must make cashless go nationwide. I believe part of those pronouncements will begin from tomorrow and there will be some breaking news tomorrow about it.

    “Even the bankers committee will hold a special bankers committee meeting tomorrow to deliberate further on this, so let’s expect the news,” Emefiele said.

    He said that the eNaira, which was another product added for Nigerians to embrace a cashless economy, had in its first year of operation, recorded over eight billion transactions.

    He said that the apex bank would continue to refine, fine-tune and upgrade the eNaira as it was a journey of possibilities and not a one-off event .

    According to him, Nigerians should expect to see additional functionalities in the coming months.

    Emefiele said, “The additional functionalities include onboarding of revenue collection agencies to increase and simplify collections.

    “Collaborating with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs through the creation of sector-specific tokens to support the Federal Government’s social programmes and distribution of targeted welfare schemes in a bid to lift millions out of poverty by 2025.’’

    He assured the apex bank would continue to act decisively to encourage innovation, while at the same time protecting the interests of consumers and other stakeholders.

    TNG reports that the eNaira, designed to provide Nigerians with a cheap, safe and trusted means of payment within the domestic and global economy, was introduced October 25, 2021, by President Muhammadu Buhari, given the potential benefits it portends for a digital economy.

    Its objective is to enhance financial inclusion, support poverty reduction, enable direct welfare disbursement to citizens and  support a resilient payments ecosystem.

    It is also to improve availability and usability of central bank money, facilitate diaspora remittances, reduce the cost of processing cash, and reduce cost and improve efficiency of cross-border payment among others.

  • CBN launches second phase of eNaira

    CBN launches second phase of eNaira

     

    Close to one year after the launch of the eNaira project, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, at the Grand Finale of the eNaira Hackathon, announced the commencement of the second phase of the project.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) recalls in October 2021, the CBN introduced the eNaira wallet to enhance financial inclusion.

    According to the Nigeria Economic Update, the weekly newsletter of the Centre for the Study of Economies of Africa (CSEA), as at August 2022, the eNaira wallet has been downloaded about 840,000 times, with around 270,000 active wallets (including over 252,000 consumer and 17,000 merchant wallets) created.

    Moreover, over 200,000 transactions valued at N4.4 billion have occurred on the platform. The second phase aimed to improve financial inclusion by enrolling the unbanked and underserved through offline channels.
    With the eNaira wallet, Nigerians can conduct transactions on their mobile phones by using the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) code*997. For a population with over 50 million active bank accounts, the registration for the eNaira wallet is relatively low in proportion to the country’s economic size. Therefore, it is imperative for the CBN to collaborate with fintech organisations to plan and organise events aimed at restoring public trust in the eNaira.
    Consequently, the downloads and registration on the platform should increase with improved confidence and clarity on the advantages of using the wallet. Hence, an appropriate private sector collaboration could also ensure wider acceptance of the eNaira for economic activities.

  • CBN unveils eNaira USSD code

    CBN unveils eNaira USSD code

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has unveiled the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) for its eNaira to enhance financial inclusion in the country.

    The CBN Governor, GodwinEmefiele said this during the inauguration of the USSD transaction code at a 5-day Northern eNaira fair, Kano 2022.

    The theme of the fair is: “Implementation of eNaira Wallet Towards Job Opportunity and Economic Growth.”

    The apex bank introduced the eNaira transaction code *997#, to engender financial inclusion and avail Nigerians opportunities to endless possibilities through financial services.

    Emefiele, represented by the Deputy Governor Operations, Mr Folashodun Adenisi-Shonubi, described eNaira as a strategic initiative, in accordance with the bank’s mandate to preserve monetary and financial stability.

    “It captured the slogan ‘Same Naira, More Possibilities’, and designed to positively impact lives of Nigerians, and transform the economy.

    “The eNaira is expected to enhance inclusion, support poverty reduction, enable direct welfare disbursement to citizens, support a resilient payments ecosystem, improve availability and usability of central bank money,” he said.

    He said it would also facilitate diaspora remittances, reduce the cost of processing cash, and improve efficiency of cross border payments, among others.

    According to him, approximately 45 per cent Nigerians do not have bank accounts, while 35.9 per cent are excluded from formal financial services.

    He, however, said that about 81 per cent of the adults population in Nigeria representing 86 million of the 106 million own mobile phones.

    “In addition, there are 150 million Mobile Subscribers in Nigeria, according to NCC, June 2022.

    “Therefore, eNaira seeks to leverage the huge opportunity mobile telecommunication presents, as a distribution channel for the offering of digital services to the underserved and unbanked population,” he said.

    Gov Abdullahi Ganduje, represented by Alhaji Sagir Muhammad, Special Adviser on Cabinet Affairs, thanked the CBN for the unveiling of the eNaira USSD code in Kano.

    He said that his administration would ensure enabling environment for businesses to thrive for the overall social and economic development of the state.

    The governor said the state government would use the eNaira platform for its empowerment programmes, and urged Nigerians to utilise the opportunity, to boost their businesses.

    “With this, you don’t need to go to the bank, POS operators, or have ATM card, all you need is to use the transaction code “997#,” he said

  • CBN to introduce USSD code to improve eNaira

    CBN to introduce USSD code to improve eNaira

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says it is set to introduce the Unstructured Supplementary (USSD) code as part of steps to improve the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

    The Deputy Governor of the CBN, Kingsley Obiora, said this at the IMF African Department Speakers Series held virtually on Friday.

    The series was focused on “CBDC and Private Digital Payments in Kenya and Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities for Sub-Saharan Africa.”

    Recall that the CBN inaugurated the CBDC, also known as the eNaira, on Oct. 25, 2021, aimed at making financial transactions easier and seamless for every strata of the society.

    Obiora said the introduction of the USSD code became necessary to improve financial inclusion in the country and to ensure people without smartphones could still transact on the eNaira platform.

    “We have made serious progress in the last seven to eight years because when the current governor resumed in 2014, one of the pillars of his vision was to significantly improve financial inclusion.

    “So at the time, we were at 48 per cent of our population within the financial system and given several policies that he conceived and implemented, we are almost at 70 per cent.

    “That still leaves us with about 30 per cent of our population out of the financial system and we believe the CBDC can help reduce that number even more.

    “A lot of people might not have smartphones but that is essentially the next step of our improvement in the CBDC, to introduce the USSD code, so those that do not have smartphones can still transact,” Obiora said.

    The CBN deputy governor said that the barrier to entry on the CBDC platform was low, which made it possible for everyone with a Bank Verification Number (BVN) to be onboarded into the eNaira platform in a few minutes.

    Obiora said the value of the country’s digital payments grew from 324 billion dollars in 2008 to about 2.4 trillion dollars presently, adding that Nigerians were now used to digital payments.

    ”As you know, within the continent we have one of the largest Fintech companies, Futterwave, Paystack, etc, “ the apex bank boss added.

    He said that the CBDC had significant benefits for Nigeria, which was why the CBN decided to introduce it.

    Obiora listed the benefits to include rapid financial inclusion, reducing the cost of processing cash, enabling direct welfare payments to citizens, and reducing the informal economy.

    Others are improving tax collection, boosting cross-border trade and remittances, reducing the cost and improving the efficiency of payments and just endearing economic growth in general.

    He, however, listed some of the key risks to introducing the  CBDC to include banking sector disintermediation, operational risks of knowing that there is non-stop service, cyber security risks, internet disruptions and financial literacy.

    Obiora said that Nigeria was doing well based on a PwC report, which showed that Nigeria was number one in terms of adoption, adding that the CBN would keep growing and improving on the system.

    Speaking on adopting cryptocurrency in Nigeria, the deputy governor said for now it would not become part of the country’s financial system because of the volatility that it could create for the system.

    Commenting on the high cost of food and fuel in Nigeria caused by the war in Ukraine, he said that the problem was more political than economic.

    According to him, we hope that world leaders will sort this out as quickly as possible because ordinary people who have no egos and did not cause this problem are the ones that are suffering the most.

    “Within Nigeria what we are seeing is that farm gate food prices have either stabilised or reduced, whereas in the market it actually has increased.”

    Obiora said a lot of the problems with rising food inflation were due to logistic problems and the issue of higher prices of fuel and transportation.

    “We are trying to deal with that by investing a bit in a commodity exchange so that they can stabilise prices.

    He said, “within the monetary policy committee, rates will be raised at least to signal that we will continue to keep an eye on inflation and stand ready to do whatever it takes to turn it around.”

    According to the moderator, Mr Abebe Selassie, Director, African Department, IMF, the series is a platform where Africa’s pressing economic policy issues are discussed and organised by the IMF’s African Department.

    Selassie said the series provided an opportunity for policymakers, academics, and analysts to offer their perspectives on economic and policy issues relevant to the IMF’S African constituency.

  • Financial inclusion: We will attain 85% target – CBN Gov, Emefiele

    Financial inclusion: We will attain 85% target – CBN Gov, Emefiele

    The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has expressed optimism that the Bank will achieve the 85% financial inclusion rate target in Nigeria, within a very short period from its current rate of slightly below 70%.

    Mr. Emefiele disclosed this in Abuja at the Bank’s head Office in Abuja, while playing host to a delegation of Executive Directors from the Bank of Uganda, who were on an experience sharing tour of the CBN’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project on Monday, May 9, 2022. He noted that the CBN was committed to accelerating the rate at which those who were financially excluded could come into the formal banking sector.

    He expressed satisfaction that the country’s Central Bank Digital Currency, the eNaira, had recorded some level of success judging by the rate of integration and security features, adding that the CBDC will enhance the relationship between mobile banking and e-business and speed up the rate of financial inclusion.

    The CBN Governor also noted that the interest the novel eNaira was attracting from other countries and multinational bodies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, underscored the level and quality of work the CBN had put into the project. Although he noted that Nigeria, being the first country in Africa to launch its CBDC, was a case study to other climes, he said the country was treading cautiously to ensure it sustains the successes recorded thus far.

    While equally stressing that the country had deepened its payment system infrastructure, which he noted was ranked among the best in the world, Mr. Emefiele paid tribute to his predecessor in office, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, for laying the foundation upon which the country’s current payments system was built. He recalled that Sanusi, as then CBN Governor, appointment him chairman of the sub-committee of the of the Bankers’ Committee to lead the payments system drive in 2012, adding that the move paved the way for innovative ideas that eventually led to the creation of the eNaira.

    He therefore charged the Executive Directors (Deputy Governors equivalent) of the Bank of Uganda to strive to strengthen their country’s payment system, noting that a strong payment system remained the bedrock for the successful take-off of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

    The delegation from the Bank of Uganda (BoU) comprised; Executive Director and Economic Adviser to the Governor, BoU, Dr. Jacob Opolot; the Executive Director, Information Technology, BoU, Mr. Richard Mayebo; Executive Director, Finance, BoU, Mr. Richard Byarugaba; and the Ag. Director, National Payments Systems Department, Mr. Andrew Kawere.

  • How eNaira is doing 3 months on – Emefiele

    How eNaira is doing 3 months on – Emefiele

    Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says Nigerians are gradually adopting the eNaira, launched three months back.

    Emefiele said this while answering questions from members of the press after presenting the outcome of the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The MPC, at the meeting, retained the country’s Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 11.5 per cent. and also unanimously agreed to retain all other monetary policy parameters.

    The Cash Reserved Ratio (CRR) was, thus, retained at 27.5 per cent, Liquidity Ratio, 30 per cent and Assymetric Corridor, +100 and -700 Basis Points around the MPR.

    Emefiele, answering questions after presenting the MPC meeting outcome, said that Person to Bank and Bank to Person transactions have accounted for 90 per cent of transactions done on the eNaira speed wallet.

    “Since its launch about three months ago, Nigerians have continued to gradually adopt eNaira as a fast and reliable means of exchange.

    ”Transactions recorded range from P to P, that is, Person to Person; or Person to Merchant, P to M; Bank to Person; Person to Bank and Bank to Merchants and Merchants to Bank.

    “The Person to Bank and Bank to Person constitute 90 per cent of what we see in the market, and as you will observe, we spent the last three months observing and monitoring the system and addressing issues mostly around initial onboarding,’’ Emefiele said.

    According to him, transactions on the system have been super-fast and remain free for now.

    He said that stringent validation procedures were enforced to preserve the integrity and security of the system since it was account based, and required a digital identity.

    “We feel that you must have a BVN and you must have an account to be able to access it; And we also find that this has created some kind of constraints on people about onboarding with BVN and the rest of them.

    “But again, we believe that what we do by the use of the BVN is the best so as to avoid fraudsters from hacking into the system.

    “Most of the complaints received were mainly around the inability of prospective users to onboard and activate the E wallet due to a mismatch of BVN enrollment records,’’ he said.

    Emefiele said that the bank together with the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System and the Deposit Money Banks were working to simplify the process of updating such information.

    He added that considerable progress had been made with the release of locked accounts for re-onboarding.

    The CBN Governor also said that foreigners who had BVN could now onboard the system.

    He added that with the recent assignment of the enaira USSD code by the Ministry of Communications and digital economy, Nigerians without a smartphone would soon be able to onboard and conduct transactions using enaira by dialling code 997.

    Emefiele said that the apex bank was engaging the fintechs and other industry players to create a bouquet of products on enaira platform.

    He said that while transactions on the system have so far mostly revolved around moving money to and from bank accounts, tests with licensed payment services providers were ongoing to enable payments using enaira on E commerce platforms.

    The CBN Governor explained that this would enable Small and Medium Enterprises and other commercial service providers to offer their products and services and accept enaira as a means of payment and exchange.

    He said that CBN was working on a framework that would leverage the existing and new infrastructure to soon extend the service of enaira to the unbanked, as part of its commitment towards meeting targets for Financial Inclusion.

    Besides, he said that the bank together with its stakeholders planned to embark on a rigorous awareness campaign to create the necessary understanding of the operations of the enaira.