ENaira Adoption Still Low at N18.3bn About 0.33% of Bank Notes in Circulation

The adoption of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) digital currency eNaira, rose to N18.3 billion in 2024, however the digital currency still makes up a tiny percentage of the currency-in-circulation as at December 2024.

The total bank notes and coins in circulation (including the eNaira) rose to N5.44 trillion as at the end of 2024, according to the CBN, meaning the eNaira in circulation made up just 0.33% of the total.

eNaira is a central bank digital currency (CBDC) backed by law, the full sovereignty of Nigeria, issued by the CBN as a legal tender.

It was launched on October 25, 2021 and is available to users with or without a bank account, as they only need to register and access the wallet via the eNaira mobile app.

It is the digital form of the Naira and is used just like cash. The eNaira wallet is a digital storage that holds the eNaira. The eNaira wallet is required to access, hold and use eNaira, which is a unit of account, store of value and medium of exchange.

In 2022, Flutterwave, a fintech firm, announced the addition of the eNaira as a payment option for merchants to boost the adoption of the digital currency.

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