The new naira notes will be unveiled by President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday at the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, according to Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
He added that the new notes would enter circulation prior to the central bank’s previously declared deadline of December 15, 2022.
After the Monetary Police Committee meeting in Abuja, he made the announcement during a press conference.
Rakiyat Mohammed, the CBN’s director of information technology, stated that as of right now, 36 million Nigerians do not have any access to financial services.
This was said on Tuesday at the Zenith Bank Tech Fair in Lagos by Mohammed, who oversaw the creation and introduction of the eNaira.
She stated during her presentation at the fair, which has the theme “Future Forward,” that the CBN was the second central bank in the world to introduce a central bank digital currency and the first in Africa.
She said the creation of the CBDC resulted from the pressing necessity to give “financial inclusion to the 36m Nigerians who currently lack access to financial services.”
According to her, “Nigeria has the 6th most advanced retail payment system. This was according to a report by ACI. So, if you look at that report, you will see why.
“Remember, when the president launched eNaira, he did say in the next 10 years, we expected eNaira and its associated technologies to increase our GDP by $20bn. We are working on that.”
She added that it had become necessary to create a currency that was legal tender and could compete in the digital economy in light of current trends.
