The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has continued campaigns urging people to use the e-Naira, even saying it is better than bitcoin.
Speaking to the press, Godwin Okafor, Delta State Branch Controller, CBN, said:
“We are here at the market today to sensitize the market people on the use of e-Naira. It is fully-backed by CBN, unlike Bitcoin which has no legal backing.’
– Delta State Branch Controller, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
According to reports in Nigeria, the senior official stated this at the popular Ogbogonogo market during the market sensitization on e-Naira.
Delta was chosen as the second state to sensitize market women on e-Naira after Lagos.
According to another official, the CBN officers were going from shop to shop in the market to sensitize men and women on the use of e-Naira.
The officers also pointed out that the bank was frustrated with cash indicating that ‘paper currency will soon be out of circulation because CBN spent money to print money and people abuse the currency in the market.’
In recent months, the Central Bank of Nigeria has been at war with forex players and banks in the country as it battled to rescue the Naira which lost 10% of value to the dollar in the last year.
The officers were also campaigning for the e-Naira over technologies like PoS and ATM pointing out that:
- It is more effective
- Its transactions are free
- It can not be hacked by fraudsters
The e-Naira, which went live in October 2021, was the first central bank digital currency (CBDC) to go to public in Africa, and among the first in the world.
The e-Naira is thought to be the most advanced CBDC project currently in the world.
