Emefiele Accuses Banks Of Having Apathy To E-Naira Project

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele on Tuesday accused banks of having apathy to the use of the e-Naira by their customers.

Emefiele who said this on Tuesday at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting, said the apathy from banks stemmed from their inability to make huge revenue from the e-Naira project

He told customers of banks to approach their banks and demand that their account be onboarded to the e-naira wallet as making transaction through that channel is the cheapest any bank customers could get from the banking system.

The CBN Governor said that with almost no bank charges attached to the e-Naira, banks would want to do everything possible to frustrate its acceptability.

Emefiele explained that the CBN is working with telecoms companies to enable them assist bank customers load their e-Naira wallet through USSD codes.

The e-Naira, launched by President Muhammadu Buhari, on October 25, 2021, recorded more than 100,000 thousand downloads on Google Play Store alone following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s onslaught against cryptocurrencies, tagged as “unregulated”.

While launching Nigeria’s first digital currency, Buhari noted that the currency and its underlying block-chain infrastructure can increase the country’s GDP, by $29bn in 10 years.

The President also declared that introduction of the e-Naira will enable his government send direct payments to citizens eligible for specific welfare programmes as well as foster cross-border trade.

He said that alongside digital innovations, digital currencies could foster growth through better economic activities, increase remittances, improve financial inclusion and make monetary policy more effective.