The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),has implored Nigerians to embrace e-naira, the nation’s digital currency,saying it would deepen financial inclusion and encourage ease f banking in Nigeria.
The Director Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, gave the appeal recently at the bank’s special day at the at Lagos International Trade Fair.
He said: “The e-Naira is expected to deepen financial inclusion by bringing more people into the financial space, support a resilient payment ecosystem, reduce the cost of processing cash, enable direct and transparent welfare intervention to citizens, increase transparency in revenue and tax collections, facilitate diaspora remittances, reduce the cost of financial transactions and improve the efficiency of payments.”
He maintained that there have been encouraging response to the launch of the e-Naira.
He added:“Today, customers who download the eNaira Speed Wallet App will be able to Onboard and create their wallet; fund their eNaira wallet from their bank account; transfer eNaira from their wallet to another wallet and make payment for purchases at registered merchant locations. I therefore appeal to Nigerians to embrace the eNaira just like our physical Naira – our pride.”
He also said CBN has provided policy and financing support for businesses especially the MSMEs through its development finance initiatives, because the bank believes that the continued provision of access to finance to various sectors of the economy will promote inclusive growth and sustainable development.
“For the records, these initiatives include: the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS); the MSME Development Fund; the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP); and the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP).”
