eNaira from Nigeria is live after official launch by Buhari

The central bank of Nigeria’s (CBDC) digital currency, eNaira, entered service after an official launch by President Muhammadu Buhari Monday.

The launch took place at the State House in Abuja. An earlier plan to unveil the digital currency on October 1 has been put on hold.

Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world to develop an official digital currency.

The eNaira was developed by the fintech company Bitt, which is also behind the creation of CBDCs in some countries of the Eastern Caribbean.

At the launch on Monday, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, said 500 million eNaira ($ 1.21 million) had already been minted.

The CBDC’s digital currency app and merchant wallet are now live and available for download.

The two applications, eNaira speed wallet and eNaira Merchant wallet, are now available on Google Playstore and Apple Store.

A notice on the enaira website gives details of how the currency and the wallet work.

“Prepare with your accurate BVN data for your seamless registration,” he says.

“To register for the eNaira Quick Wallet, you will need to enter the following details exactly as they were entered when you registered with BVN.

“First name, last name, date of birth, state of origin and e-mail.

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“Your banks are waiting to help you validate and update your BVN information to ensure seamless registration with the eNaira platform,” he says.

The central bank also released the regulatory guidelines currency on its website.

“The directive aims to simplify the operation of eNaira, encourage general acceptability and use, promote low transaction costs, foster financial inclusion while minimizing the inherent risks of disintermediation from any negative impact on the financial system, ”he says.