TheCable

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says the eNaira application has registered almost 600,000 downloads since its launch in October.

A statement signed by Nelson Olagundoye, head of corporate communication at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), quoted Emefiele as saying at the 56th annual bankers’ dinner of the institute over the weekend.

The CBN rolled out the eNaira apps on October 25.

The eNaira has two applications — eNaira speed wallet and eNaira speed merchant wallet.

The two applications were rolled out on Google Play and Apple Store for Android and iPhone users.

At the dinner, the CBN governor noted that a robust payment system would provide cheap, efficient, and faster means of conducting payments for most Nigerians.

“In less than 4 weeks since its launch, almost 600,000 downloads of the e-Naira application have taken place,” he said.

“Efforts are ongoing to encourage faster adoption of the e-Naira by Nigerians who do not have smartphones.

“The support of the financial industry will be critical in the ongoing deployment of the e-Naira, and efforts are ongoing to encourage continued partnership between the CBN and stakeholders in the financial industry.’’

Emefiele said that total transaction volumes using digital channels more than doubled between 2018 and 2020, as volumes rose from 1.3 billion to over 3.3 billion financial transactions in 2020.

He said that digital payment channels also helped to support the continued conduct of business activities during the lockdown.

He said the banking sector’s robust payment system has continued to evolve towards meeting the needs of households and businesses in Nigeria, indicating that between 2015 and September 2021, about $900 million has been invested in firms run by Nigerian founders.

According to him, this is a reflection of confidence in the apex bank’s payment system.

Emefiele also stated that the policies created to ensure stability in the exchange rate saw more transactions flowing through the official investors & exporters’ FX window (I&E FX Window) which raised its average daily FX turnover to $250 million from $40 million in April 2020.

Also speaking at the dinner, Bayo Olugbemi, CIBN president, commended Emefiele for the innovative introduction of eNaira.

He noted that the modality for the operation of the eNaira is being fine-tuned.

“I have no doubt in my mind that it is a welcome development and a step in the right direction,” Olugbemi said.

“Equally worthy of note is the improvement, though slight, being witnessed in the exchange rate of the Naira. I wish to call for its sustenance.

“We are certainly working in interesting times with global growth rate at its lowest and traditional norms being challenged on a daily basis.”

In his remarks, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, stated that bankers “must ensure that the fundamental economic indicators, both micro and macro, of our economy, are a true reflection of what the realities are in the various sectors of the economy.”

“We will certainly need to review the traditional economic and monetary models in the face of changing realities and the desire to achieve maximum impact and outcome vis a vis our policy objectives,” he added.

“But even as we do this, we must never lose sight of our primary mandates as institutions and organizations.”

Sanwo-Olu said banks must deploy funds to create jobs, boost exports, build capacity, and guarantee prosperity for significant numbers of the country’s population.