The central bank of Nigeria (CBN), has reportedly set October 1 as the commencement date for the trial phase of it's digital currency project, dubbed "Project Giant". This digital currency project or the "e-naira" is expected to use the hyper ledger fabric block chain.
The revelation of the launch date for Nigeria's central bank digital currency (CBDC) comes just few months after the central bank governor, said the digital currency will soon come to life. It also comes after the CBN suggested in June that Nigeria would have it's own C DC by the end of the year. With this revelation when confirmed officially, Nigeria will become the second west African nation to announce the pilot phase of it's own digital currency in 2021.
As previously reported, the bank of Ghana is the other country from the region to announce a date for it's digital currency project. In the meantime, the report reveals some of the focus areas that stand to benefit from the roll out of the e-naira. Some of these areas include cross border trade, monetary policy, tax revenue collection and remittance inflows
Nigerian Government is the only government that gave very interesting and valid points in favour of their CDBC which no other country's government gave so far. They stressed the fact that how they would "increase financial inclusion via this and reduce the number of fees spent on inward remittances from abroad". While IMF considers this a shortcut towards financial inclusion, governments around the world are pretty sure this is the best way to beat developed countries in the inclusiveness of their financial systems. Also, CDBC is the only way you would be able both regulate the financial system and enjoy the benefits of cryptocurrencies.