CBN to launch own digital currency October 1

By our reporter/ The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday said it will launch the pilot scheme of its digital currency by October 1, 2021.

The apex Bank which made the disclosure during a private webinar where its stakeholders outlined a digital currency initiative, noted that about 80 percent of central banks globally are currently exploring the possibility of issuing their central bank digital currency (CBDC) and Nigeria could not be left behind.

Rakiya Mohammed, CBN director of information technology, at the end of the stakeholders meeting, explained that the apex bank had been conducting research since 2017 in regards to developing a digital currency.

According to her, the project name is tagged ‘GIANT’ will use the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain, as the apex bank prepares to conduct a proof of concept before the end of the year.

The Hyperledger Fabric is an open source project that acts as a foundation for developing blockchain-based products, solutions, and applications using plug-and-play components that are aimed for use within private enterprises.

According to CBN, the importance of its digital currency will include macro management and growth, cross border trade facilitation, financial inclusion, monetary policy effectiveness, improved payment efficiency, revenue tax collection, remittance improvement, and targeted social intervention.

If the pilot scheme is eventually launched, Nigeria will join other countries across the globe and Africa racing to develop it’s CBDC.

Some of these countries include South Africa (digital Rand), Tunisia (eDinar), Ghana (e-cedi), Sweden, Japan, South Korea, and Russia.

Meanwhile China (digital yuan), Bahamas (sand dollar), Eastern Caribbean (DCash) are among the few countries that have officially launched their own national digital currency.

It will be recalled that earlier this year, the apex bank banned cryptocurrency transactions in the country, warning that the digital currency pose the risk of loss of investments, money laundering, terrorism financing, illicit fund flows and other criminal activities.

It, however, pledged to announced plans to launch its own digital currency before year end.