The Nigerian Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), eNaira, failed to gather support from residents as less than 0.5% of Nigerians use the digital currency.
In October 2021, Nigeria became the first African country to launch a CBDC.
However, a year after its launch, the eNaira received a dismal response from the 217M population. The low adoption prompted the government to offer a 5% discount to drivers and passengers of "Keke Napep" or motorized auto-rickshaws.
According to Adesoji Solanke, Director of Renaissance Capital,
“The eNaira does not address any of [the] basic use cases, so no surprise at its low adoption rates so far.”
The Bank of Nigeria remains positive about the future of eNaira. In August, Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, stated the project will soon enter its second phase. He added that the Central Bank aims to increase the adoption rate of eNaira to 8M users by August 2023.
Meanwhile, the crypto market holds strong in Nigeria despite the Central Bank banning other banks from providing services to crypto exchanges. Chainalysis’ report revealed that the nation ranks eleventh in the countries for crypto adoption.
Solanke noted that despite the bearish crypto market trends, Nigerians are still attracted to crypto assets as they allow them to evade foreign currency restrictions.
