The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed that it is about concluding tests with MTN Nigeria to provide a channel where the unbanked can on board using the code *997##.
This is as it criticised commercial banks over its lack of adoption of eNaira months after launch.
The apex bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said this while fielding questions from newsmen during the 286th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which held in Lagos on Tuesday. The eNaira was launched with great fanfare in October 2021, becoming the first central bank digital currency (CBDC) on the African continent. However, the buzz around it declined as investigations done by Daily Sun last month indicated that only 756,000 individuals created eNaira accounts out of the 55 million bank accounts operating in the country. Whilst stating the slow pace of adoption by banks was the reason behind the lean figure, Emefiele revealed that the e-Naira is the product that has the lowest cost in terms of moving money electronically from one location to another location.
