Nigeria’s Federal Supreme Court joins the growing list of regulators worldwide to approve the launch of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as legal tender. The digital currency called eNaira will be issued by the central bank and a local eNaira wallet will support it.
The approval of the issuance of a CBDC in Nigeria was revealed at a Federal Court hearing held on October 2 led by Judge Taiwo Abayomi Taiwo, according to a report by the Voice of Nigeria. The official eNaira website says that the digital version of the Nigerian naira will be available globally, noting that “anyone can keep it.”
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the Nigerian CBDC’s launch is dedicated to the celebration of the country’s 61st Independence Day. While eNaira will continue to trade alongside its cash counterpart, it is being marketed as a faster, cheaper and safer option for cash transactions.
It is important to note that the move to introduce the digital naira also coincides with the devaluation of the country’s fiat currency, which is currently at its lowest level since 2003.
Related: The Cryptocurrency Market in Africa Has Grown Over 1200% Since 2020: Sequence Analysis
A recent Cointelegraph report showed that Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Tanzania experienced the highest adoption of cryptocurrencies among African countries, resulting in a market growth of 1200% between July 2020 and June 2021.
Supportive data from Chainalysis indicates that P2P platforms, banking restrictions, and fear of inflation have contributed to the market growth in Africa. As a result, the region continues to attract investments, the most recent of which has led to a $15 million Series A funding for crypto exchange Yellow Card.
