Nigeria to Launch eNaira to Streamline Payment Systems

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has announced to launch a national digital currency in hopes of revolutionizing payment systems in the region.

The digital currency, “eNaira” has been in development for several years now and is designed to also support the physical naira. The Central Bank of Nigeria said in an email, “the eNaira will make financial transactions easier and seamless for every strata of the society.”

The bank has opted to partner with Bitt Inc. for technical support in the development of the digital currency. Also, the virtual ledger is expected to be available soon after cryptocurrencies were banned a few months ago. The eNaira is expected to give people a safer alternative and support blockchain technologies.

Digital strategist, Daniel Yerimah expressed his opinion on the matter saying, “everything built on blockchain is very safe and secure. Another thing again is it’s universal, parts of the benefits they intent to achieve with the eNaira is it will be used for both international and local trade and also it’s going to be fight corruption.” On the other hand, experts have raised concerns about the digital currency’s effect on intermediary banks and the role they play in the financial market.

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