The eNaira was designed to be the digital form of the naira and had made its mark as the first national digital currency in Africa.
During its launch by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in October last year, officials promised it would open up avenues for financial inclusion and fiscal benefits aimed at boosting the economy.
One year down the line, the eNaira is still struggling to make its mark on the financial consciousness of Nigerians, especially the well-grounded crypto-savvy population.
According to a Bloomberg report, the adoption rate of eNaira has been put at a very low level as just less than 0.5% of Nigeria’s 217 million population have confirmed to use the government-backed digital currency.
This comes amid the country's high ranking as the top country in Africa and 11th position in global crypto adoption by Chainalysis, an American blockchain analysis firm.
Another report by KuCoin also revealed that about 35% of the Nigerian population within the 18 to 60 age bracket owned or traded cryptocurrencies this year. For crypto-savvy citizens, the confusion in the adoption of the eNaira comes amid the FG's decision to outlaw cryptocurrency trading in the country's commercial banks.
Many Nigerians have failed to see the difference between the government-backed eNaira and cryptocurrencies and thus have wondered the rationale behind Government's decision to stop banks from trading cryptos.
The eNaira’s build is very similar to that of cryptocurrency as they share some unique properties. eNaira can be saved in digital wallets and also has similar distributed ledger technology as Bitcoin or Ethereum.
The CBN, in a move to mitigate the low adoption rate has commenced a nationwide awareness campaign to drive the adoption of the digital currency at the grassroots by offering a five percent discount to drivers and passengers of the popular ‘Keke Napep’ that ply the city streets in a bid to increase usage.
This move may eventually turn out well for the apex bank’s prospects of pushing the eNaira as the CBN governor in August, proposed an adoption target of eight million users in its second phase.