The Federal Government has expressed the intention to start paying workers’ salaries, pensions and social welfare benefits using eNaira Payment platform.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that it decided to expand the use of the country’s digital currency to encourage acceptance of the payment system.
The proposal is contained in the Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028, a new roadmap released by the apex bank to strengthen digital payments and increase the role of the eNaira in everyday financial transactions.
The eNaira was introduced in October 2021 as Africa’s first central bank digital currency.
The eNaira was introduced in October 2021 as Africa’s first central bank digital currency.
This means public-sector salaries, pensions; conditional cash transfers and other government disbursements could eventually be paid through the platform.
The CBN also noted that the digital currency has features that allow money to be programmed for specific purposes.
Such features could make it possible to place spending deadlines on funds, restrict payments to approved uses, divide payments automatically and create separate digital wallets for different needs.
The bank believes these capabilities could improve payment efficiency while supporting faster and cheaper transactions.
It also stated that the eNaira could play a bigger role in financial markets by supporting settlement systems, banking operations and digital versions of financial assets such as bonds and securities.
