Nigeria’s Awaited eNaira Website Goes Live, Here’s all you Should Know

Exactly three days before the official launch of Nigeria’s digital currency called eNaira, the Central Bank of Nigeria opens the website.

Before now, CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, had announced that the eNaira would be launched officially on Independence day, October 1st, 2021.

According to the CBN, the digital currency is a legal tender just like the Naira. It can be used for financial transactions in the country.

eNaira is developed by a Barbados-based fintech company called Bitt Inc, a company reported to harbor a huge stake of the CBN.

The welcome note on the website reads that the eNaira will serve as a medium of exchange and a store of value. It will also offer “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,” the note says.

eNaira will be available for download on the Google play store or Apple app store From October 1.

Major concerns about the eNaira

Barely 24hours after opening the website, some financial experts have given their candid opinion on the eNaira.

Economists and Chief Executive Officer of Global Analytics Consulting Limited, Mr Tope Fasua, said that it’s a welcome development and commended the CBN. According to him, all currencies would eventually become digital over time.

“The Naira is already digital as it is because you can send money through Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) or through electronic transfer without the need to touch cash.” He said.

“But with the eNaira, digitalisation is going to a higher level, where we will increase focus on electronic financial transactions, which will come with its type of innovations and improvements. But only those who get on board will benefit from the advantages of the digital currency,’’ he added.

According to Fasua, with the new development, the CBN would not need to print too much naira, thereby saving huge revenue.

“It will benefit the Nigerian economy by saving a huge cost of managing physical cash and include more Nigerians in the financial sector. It will promote financial inclusion, as those who do not have bank accounts can easily key into the eNaira.

“It will also, eventually, help in tracking money laundering and fraud because it is all about the documentation of what people are doing. The data that will be generated will enable authorities to do their work better in preventing money laundering and fraud,’’ he said.

Contrary to Fasua’s remark, A financial expert, Mr Okechukwu Unegbu, also a former president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, said that the CBN is trying to imitate a product which it had initially banned without having a full grasp on how it works.

“eNaira is another form of cryptocurrency, which the CBN has banned, and it seems that the apex bank is trying to imitate what is banned. The CBN needed to have done very thorough research and engage stakeholders in the CIBN, ICAN and other relevant professional bodies, and also create sensitization on the currency. I learnt that the eNaira cannot be used for bank transfers; that will be detrimental to the Deposit Money Banks. If you bring out a product which people cannot understand they will not be able to use it,’’ he said.

Can you Differentiate the eNaira from the regular Naira? 

Not a lot of people know what the eNaira is despite it being in the news for some time now. As read earlier, eNaira is a form of digital currency, safe to call Nigeria’s official digital currency.

What is Digital Currency?

This refers to any means of payment that exists in purely electronic form. It is accounted for and transferred using online systems. It is not a form of currency you can feel physically like the Naira, dollar etc. A popular example of digital currency is the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

How to store your eNaira

Like you can keep your conventional currency in a physical wallet, there is also an electronic wallet that serves for the storage of digital currencies. The eNaira is not exempted. An eNaira wallet is an app that allows you to store and retrieve your digital assets. When you acquire the eNaira, you can store it in a wallet and from there use it to make transactions.

Is the eNaira wallet safe?

According to the CBN, the naira system uses a two-factor authentication system in addition to cryptographic encryption to ensure the safety of customers’ wallets.