Nigerian Central Bank seeks new CBDC partner

[Majestic-milf]

 After partnership with Bitt Inc to launch it's new CBDC, the E-naira a year ago seemed not to be getting the traction it envisaged, the Central Bank of Nigeria is seeking the services of a new tech partner. The aim is to plan a more effective method in which they have more control over the digital currency.
 Experts have suggested that user experience be improved as this may help for a faster adoption. Meanwhile, Nigerian banks seem not to have contributed much to this exercise due to alleged hitches that marred the usability of the digital currency.
 Surprisingly, even with the cash crunch that seem to be holding Nigerians ransom, they still prefer to use BTC for transactions more than the E-naira even after it promised to improve retail payment.
Sadly, even though Nigerians chose to turn to the E-naira, transactions with the CBDC will be limited.

 Now where I need opinions on is; should Nigeria dump this project and focus on other important things like possibly expanding Bitcoin hubs in more places other than the two locations it is in now (Lagos, Ibadan) or is there something a new tech partner can do to revive the E-naira??

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[EarnOnVictor]

I believe CBN is not ready for the digital transition, which is why some small fintech companies in the country are doing what a whole CBN could not do. What Opay and others are doing with a lot of perks was what I expected from the CBN to attract people, especially traders and market women. They don't just introduce a thing like that to highly uninformed masses with a high transaction fee and want it to beat the existing market.

Besides, the mode of operation of the e-naira is nothing compared with that of crypto, so I don't regard them as rivals in any way.

[bittraffic]

They should just focus on BTC instead and do what El Salvador did.
The Nigerians knew thier banks are stealing from them and this enaira is no different since the central bank still owns it. When the central bank steals from its depositors, they are never punished for it.

Whether they get a new partner or not, there is no guarantee that the people who own the money are not gonna be robbed. They will rather be using Bitcoin.

[coupable]

Before entering into any analysis, I think it is important to distinguish between some details :
- Bitcoin and CBDC are two completely different things and the Nigerian government's choices range between both or as if it is in an experimental phase between the two. And instead of circulating Bitcoin to more than two states, it is considering a completely different option, which is CBDC. It seems that the government understood from its short experience with crypto that it would not be able to fully control and the matter would escape from its hands.
- There is a huge difference between the choices of the government and the choices of users of the Nigerian people. This is given that Nigeria is the African country where the wave of crypto adoption is accelerating. Of course, people will choose Bitcoin, and they may need to use CBDC in official transactions if the state adopts it, but they will definitely prefer Bitcoin.

[Majestic-milf]

They should just focus on BTC instead and do what El Salvador did.
The Nigerians knew thier banks are stealing from them and this enaira is no different since the central bank still owns it. When the central bank steals from its depositors, they are never punished for it.

Whether they get a new partner or not, there is no guarantee that the people who own the money are not gonna be robbed. They will rather be using Bitcoin.

I think the Nigerian government delights in going for projects that won't profit anything other than wasting time and resources. If I can remember vividly, the E-naira was introduced in Nigeria in October 2021 and statistics show it's just 1out 200 Nigerians that use it.
 It would be a wiser move to stick with BTC like El Salvador since according to Nairametrics, it was found that the country's Bitcoin peer-2-peer transactions for the Q2 of 2022 totalled up to $34.4m and this record is gotten even while BTC is not so welcomed.

[Smartprofit]

I believe CBN is not ready for the digital transition, which is why some small fintech companies in the country are doing what a whole CBN could not do. What Opay and others are doing with a lot of perks was what I expected from the CBN to attract people, especially traders and market women. They don't just introduce a thing like that to highly uninformed masses with a high transaction fee and want it to beat the existing market.

Besides, the mode of operation of the e-naira is nothing compared with that of crypto, so I don't regard them as rivals in any way.

In my opinion, it makes little sense for Nigeria to continue to develop the CBDC project. 

Currently in Nigeria there are no significant advantages of the CBDC payment system over the payment system using conventional bank cards. 

Another thing is Bitcoin!  Bitcoin is a universally recognized universal value.  It is a global decentralized virtual currency.  Bitcoin can be easily used for cross-border payments. 

At the same time, the Nigerian CBDC is not suitable for this purpose.  And international trade is the basis of the economic prosperity of any country. 

Therefore, the adoption of Bitcoin as an alternative means of payment, in my opinion, would be ideal for Nigeria.

[EarnOnVictor]

In my opinion, it makes little sense for Nigeria to continue to develop the CBDC project.  

Let us stop pampering this clueless government that wastes money at the expense of the taxpayers. I believe if it was Emefile's company, he would have thought better, strategizes and plan so that the project will not look like a failure.

But these people are wasting billions of naira anyhow since it's not from their pocket. The CBN that wanted a CBDC should have known the pros and cons of it, also on the economy, and even on the existing market and how it would thrive. They would have known the best mode to operate it and make it user-friendly with a reasonable transactional cost. Unfortunately, the e-naira lacks all these.

This would have guided them better. In a few years now, they are looking at a different thing entirely, why then rushed for the former? The issue with the Nigerian government is that they are not always prepared and strategic, which is why their lapses are all over the place.

[Renampun]

They should just focus on BTC instead and do what El Salvador did.
The Nigerians knew thier banks are stealing from them and this enaira is no different since the central bank still owns it. When the central bank steals from its depositors, they are never punished for it.

Whether they get a new partner or not, there is no guarantee that the people who own the money are not gonna be robbed. They will rather be using Bitcoin.

It is not difficult to follow in the footsteps of El Salvador because Nigeria is one of the countries with the largest number of bitcoin investors in the world but they have a bad government that tries hard to control their citizens. CBDC which they currently claim is a perfect innovation is actually a failed innovation and the concept will be difficult for society to accept, especially in a country that has a bad political climate.

As one of the largest countries on the African continent and with a dense population, the Nigerian government should not play around with CBDCs because what they hope for is the level of public trust in the government.

[Smartprofit]

In my opinion, it makes little sense for Nigeria to continue to develop the CBDC project.  

Let us stop pampering this clueless government that wastes money at the expense of the taxpayers. I believe if it was Emefile's company, he would have thought better, strategizes and plan so that the project will not look like a failure.

But these people are wasting billions of naira anyhow since it's not from their pocket. The CBN that wanted a CBDC should have known the pros and cons of it, also on the economy, and even on the existing market and how it would thrive. They would have known the best mode to operate it and make it user-friendly with a reasonable transactional cost. Unfortunately, the e-naira lacks all these.

This would have guided them better. In a few years now, they are looking at a different thing entirely, why then rushed for the former? The issue with the Nigerian government is that they are not always prepared and strategic, which is why their lapses are all over the place.

I think this is due to the fact that government officials do not have any correlation between the positive result of their managerial decisions and the level of their wages. 

At the same time, officials have a motivation to finance the most complex, unnecessary and time-consuming projects. 

At the same time, they have an excuse - in many countries, Central Banks are working on creating their own CBDCs, why not implement such a project in Nigeria?! 

And making Bitcoin legal tender in the country is dangerous, as this may cause discontent on the part of the International Monetary Fund.

[Nwada001]

We don't need all this; they should just legalize crypto and allow us to make use of it in our daily lives. They will be amazed at the ideas and technology the citizens will come up with in a short time. 

I think the Nigerian government delights in going for projects that won't profit anything other than wasting time and resources.

That's why the country is where it is right now, rotating just in one place. They don't bring up ideas based on the betterment of its citizens, but on their selfish interests and what they are to gain from it. The plan for this E-naira was just a means to loot funds since after a proposal is made and the funds are handed over to the bodies in charge, they use little of what they proposed and do what ever they feel is right for them to do since they believe they can't be checked and asked to give a proper account of what the funds were actually used for. 

[stompix]

Surprisingly, even with the cash crunch that seem to be holding Nigerians ransom, they still prefer to use BTC for transactions more than the E-naira even after it promised to improve retail payment.

Do you have some numbers to compare usage on it?
Because with 200 million in Nigeria even a fraction of it, like 0.1% doing one transaction a day would mean 200k extra transactions, which, obviously are not there in the blockchain at all! Besides a comparison would mean having access to government data, and those have not also been revealed, not even mentioning the last week when the ordinal hype raised the transaction fee to at least 10sat/b, close to half a dollar for a simple tx, not something really appealing for a country with a minimum wage around ~$100.

Plus, if you are unable to use a debit card hard chance you are knowledgeable enough to use a Bitcoin wallet.

They should just focus on BTC instead and do what El Salvador did.

Nigeria doesn't have the $ as a currency to not care that much about the exchange rate or conversions or capital outflow, for Salvador it was simple, the central bank was not involved in money printing, money security, or anything else.

[Zlantann]

After partnership with Bitt Inc to launch it's new CBDC, the E-naira a year ago seemed not to be getting the traction it envisaged, the Central Bank of Nigeria is seeking the services of a new tech partner. The aim is to plan a more effective method in which they have more control over the digital currency.
 Experts have suggested that user experience be improved as this may help for a faster adoption. Meanwhile, Nigerian banks seem not to have contributed much to this exercise due to alleged hitches that marred the usability of the digital currency.
 Surprisingly, even with the cash crunch that seem to be holding Nigerians ransom, they still prefer to use BTC for transactions more than the E-naira even after it promised to improve retail payment.
Sadly, even though Nigerians chose to turn to the E-naira, transactions with the CBDC will be limited.

 Now where I need opinions on is; should Nigeria dump this project and focus on other important things like possibly expanding Bitcoin hubs in more places other than the two locations it is in now (Lagos, Ibadan) or is there something a new tech partner can do to revive the E-naira??

link1
link 2

Nigeria is not ripe for CBDC because the nation lacks basic infrastructures. The recent strict implementation of the cashless policy led to the breakdown of the mobile banking servers of most banks in Nigeria. People have been unable to electronically transfer and receive money. People are attracted to Bitcoin transaction because it is more reliable than these CBDC transactions.

The constant fall of the Naira also discourage people to save with the currency or put them in fixed deposits because inflation will make these funds worthless. Presently people prefer using Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation, that is why the youths of Nigeria are attracted to the coin.

New partnership might be effective in the area of quality service delivery like hitch-free financial transactions. People may consider dealing with the e-Naira if they get quality service from service providers. But except people start having confidence on the Naira, they will never be comfortable to transact, invest or save in the Nigerian currency.

[Fortify]

After partnership with Bitt Inc to launch it's new CBDC, the E-naira a year ago seemed not to be getting the traction it envisaged, the Central Bank of Nigeria is seeking the services of a new tech partner. The aim is to plan a more effective method in which they have more control over the digital currency.
 Experts have suggested that user experience be improved as this may help for a faster adoption. Meanwhile, Nigerian banks seem not to have contributed much to this exercise due to alleged hitches that marred the usability of the digital currency.
 Surprisingly, even with the cash crunch that seem to be holding Nigerians ransom, they still prefer to use BTC for transactions more than the E-naira even after it promised to improve retail payment.
Sadly, even though Nigerians chose to turn to the E-naira, transactions with the CBDC will be limited.

 Now where I need opinions on is; should Nigeria dump this project and focus on other important things like possibly expanding Bitcoin hubs in more places other than the two locations it is in now (Lagos, Ibadan) or is there something a new tech partner can do to revive the E-naira??

link1
link 2

Really, with a country the size of Nigeria, you might think there would be some home grown skills and talent, even a department of the government that could be created for this purpose - without needing to seek a partner who will essentially just be a fall guy if something goes wrong and probably cut out acrimoniously if things go right. If they truly are committed to launching this type of virtual currency, then the central bank should take complete responsibility for it, at least at the setup stage, just as they dictate fiat currency policy. It's another gimmick and a bit of a cop out that they announced it such a long time ago but have made zero progress on it so far.

[suzanne5223]

I think the result of the CBDC created by the Central Bank of Nigeria should be a lesson for other countries that if they are planning to introduce or implement CBDC and choose to ban Bitcoin and all crypto combined instead of making the CBDC work together with BTC, their so-called CBDC is already worthless before they even official release it because there no way crypto enthusiast will choose CBDC over Bitcoin