President Muhammadu Buhari has formally launched Nigeria’s first digital currency, known as the eNaira, yesterday, Monday, October 25, 2021, at the State House, Abuja.
The President, alongside the governor of the Central Bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, unveiled the first Nigerian Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), in the State House, Abuja. Also present at the unveiling was the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, among others.
The new electronic version of the nation’s local paper currency has been officially launched for use by the public. It is designed to hold equal value with the paper currency and will be issued by the CBN. The eNaira is not intended to replace cash but will function as a safe and efficient alternative means of payment.
It is also understood that the currency is far different from being a cryptocurrency as it is being regulated and therefore subject to banking laws. They are issued by a central authority and are therefore trusted by traders.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had released a statement on Saturday, October 23, 2021, prior to the launch. The statement was signed by the apex bank Director, Corporate Communications, Osita Nwanisobi.
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It indicated that the digital currency which will be launched with the theme, “Same Naira, More Possibilities” will “advance the boundaries of payments in order to make transactions easy and seamless for every stratum of the society.”
It would be recalled that the CBN had initially scheduled the launch of the CBDC to coincide with the country’s independence day celebrations on October 1 but eventually postpone the event indefinitely in a statement by the apex bank’s spokesman, Osita Nwanisobi.
The eNaira is said to be the first of its kind in Africa and Nigeria is one of the five countries in the world that have their own CBDC. Speaking at the unveiling ceremony on Monday, Mr. Emefiele said:
“The eNaira will make a significant positive difference to Nigeria and Nigerians including supporting a resilience-payment system ecosystem, encouraging rapid financial inclusion, reducing the cost of processing cash, enabling direct and transparent welfare interventions for our citizens, increasing revenue and tax collection, facilitating diaspora remittances into Nigeria, reducing the cost of financial transactions and improving the efficiency of payment in Nigeria.”
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