CBN Encourages Nigerians To Accept eNaira.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has urged Nigerians to accept the country’s digital currency, the e-naira.
Osita Nwanisobi, Director of CBN’s Corporate Communications Department, made the announcement on Thursday at the CBN special day at the current Lagos International Trade Fair.
“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 said, highlighting the benefits of the digital currency.
Noting that there have been encouraging responses to the launch of the e-Naira, Osita, said, “Today, customers who download the eNaira Speed Wallet App will be able to 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.”
Osita continued: “Furthermore, the CBN has provided policy and financing support for businesses especially the MSMEs through our development finance initiatives because we believe 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).”
We also established the Agri-business/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) and the Creative Industry Financing Initiative (CIFI) in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee to provide access to finance for youth in the fashion, music, information technology, and film production verticals.
“While collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to fund the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), we also recently unveiled the Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES), aimed at harnessing the potential of graduate entrepreneurs from Nigerian polytechnics and universities.
“As part of our response to the disruptions triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, the CBN introduced a bouquet of interventions such as the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF), as a stimulus package to support households and MSMEs affected by the pandemic
