Central Bank of Nigeria to Launch Digital Currency (CBDC) Before December

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will be launched in Nigeria before December. The Director of Information Technology of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs Rakiya Mohammed disclose this at an online news briefing on Thursday.

The decision was one of the resolutions reached at the end of the Banker's committee meeting. At the event, the CBN further assured of sufficient foreign exchange supply to meet all legitimate transactions through the Deposit Money Banks.

You will recall that earlier this year, CBN bans Nigerian banks and financial institutions from transacting in cryptocurrency, giving the order to shut down accounts tied to crypto platforms but later clarified that crypto trading is not banned in the country. 

The apex bank official said Nigeria has been researching CBDCs for two years. There are two types of currency, notes and coins. The CBN digital currency will be the third type of currency. It will supplement the cash, rather than carry cash about, you have the money in your phone.

Rakiya Mohammed added that the most recent EFInA report indicated that the nation was at about 60 per cent in financial inclusion and that with a target of 80 per cent at end of the year, steps needed to be taken to raise the percentage of the nation's Finacial inclusion.

"A Central Governance structure would be set up to address all associated risks with a view to ensuring that the Nigerian public got the best technology for the digital currency which would be launched before the end of the year." She said.

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