Recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced that it is not only planning to create a central bank digital currency but also has an exact date for its release.

Rakiya Mohammed, the chief technology director of Nigeria’s central bank, said the government would be ready to roll out its CBDC — the e-naira — on October 1 this year. 

He also said the Nigerian government has been working on its CBDC project for the past four years and is now confident that its digital currency is ready for mass adoption. 

The ‘GIANT’ project

Nigeria is all set to start a pilot program, which is named “GIANT” and will run on the blockchain infrastructure Hyperledger Fabric. The Central Bank of Nigeria is in line with other central banks’ efforts around the world in creating a viable virtual currency.

The government hopes that with its pilot program and the upcoming rollout of its digital currency, it can finally deal with some of its major financial challenges. 

These include revenue tax collection, improved payment efficiency, monetary policy effectiveness, targeted social intervention, remittance improvement, monetary policy effectiveness, and financial inclusion. 

Ready for digitization

The Nigerian government believes that its citizens would quickly adapt to the e-naira because of the country’s strong inclination towards digital assets. In fact, Nigeria is already one of the leading crypto markets in Africa, with millions of young users of cryptocurrencies. 

Previously, the government imposed policies that prevent Nigerians from trading cryptos, because of the rising reports of illegal activities which use cryptocurrencies. 

But weeks later, the government stepped back and eased its restrictions, allowing again the rapid adoption of cryptos in the country.

Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube

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Source: https://bitcoinerx.com/blockchain/nigeria-ready-to-launch-its-own-cbdc-on-october-1/