Share this article
Nigeria Is Altering eNaira Model to Promote Use of the Digital Currency: Central Bank
For many citizens, the central bank digital currency isn't easy to use.
Updated Jul 26, 2023, 6:41 p.m. Published Jul 26, 2023, 9:27 a.m.
Nigeria is changing its eNaira model to encourage more use of the central bank digital currency (CBDC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Acting Governor Folashodun Shonubi said Wednesday according to a post on the bank's Twitter account.
The west African country has been working to push for broader adoption of the currency, which was introduced in October 2021. Even though the number of eNaira wallets jumped more than 12-fold to 13 million between October 2022 and March this year, that's a small number for a country with a population of close to 224 million.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
To boost the service offering and make it more user friendly, CBN upgraded its eNaira app to enable contactless payments, local news outlet The Sun reported earlier in July. The bank didn't provide details of planned changes to the eNaira model and hadn't responded to a request for more information by publication time.
For many, using the eNaira isn't straightforward. In March, the central bank said the value of eNaira transactions up to that point in the year was 22 billion naira ($48 million at the time). The country has a $220 billion informal economy that thrives on cash and has too few merchants and little infrastructure for extensive eNaira use.
Read more: Why Nigerians Aren't Turning to the eNaira Despite Crippling Cash Shortages
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Small Texas Lender Monet Joining Field of Crypto-Focused Banks
The bank is owned by billionaire Andy Beal, a major supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.
Top Stories
