The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is marking the first year anniversary of the eNaira which was launched a year ago.
Consequently, the apex bank has unveiled activities to mark the first anniversary of its digital currency, the eNaira.
The eNaira, which is Africa’s first Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), was formally inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari on October 25, 2021.
The Director of Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, in a statement, said the implementation of eNaira has put Nigeria on global spotlight as one of the pioneers to deploy CBDC into live production.
Nwanisobi said the eNaira has continued to attract the interest of global stakeholders such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, other central banks and the CBDC community.
“As part of activities lined up to mark the first anniversary, the CBN is holding a one-day workshop themed, ‘Leveraging Innovation for Inclusive Growth and Development: The eNaira Advantage’,” said.
Nwanisobi said the objectives of the workshop, which is scheduled to hold in Lagos tomorrow, include to “review the eNaira implementation journey, one year after; to drive further adoption of the eNaira through public engagement; and to facilitate global policy dialogue on the CBDC to promote peer learning and benchmarking.
“The implementation of the eNaira has put Nigeria in the global spotlight as one of the pioneers to deploy a CBDC into live production.
“This has continued to attract the interest of global stakeholders such as the IMF, World Bank, other central banks, and the CBDC community,” the statement reads.
The implementation of the eNaira has put Nigeria in the global spotlight as one of the pioneers to deploy a CBDC into live production.
He said the event will be hosted by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, while the ministers of Communications and Digital Economy, and Humanitarian Affairs will be speakers at the event.
Other key participants at the event include the chief executives of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS); the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC); and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Also included are members of the bankers’ committee, the academia, financial services, telecommunications regulators, merchants, agents, cooperative groups and technical experts, the entertainment industry; among others.
The CBN spokesperson said the event will also feature a policy round-table discussion on, “Effective collaboration for national development (infrastructure, interoperability, regulation),” and a panel discussion on, “eNaira adoption for economic growth”.
“The CBN, therefore, encourages Nigerians to be part of the celebration which shall be streamed live on the bank’s social media channels as well as those dedicated to the eNaira,” the statement adds.