Cryptocurrencies
Lenders Are Thwarting Digital Currency’s Adoption in Nigeria
- Low cost e-naira may curb mobile banking income for lenders
- Central bank to partner MTN Nigeria to improve e-Naira usage
A mobile point of sale operator counts out Nigerian naira banknotes in Lagos, Nigeria.
Photographer: Adetona Omokanye/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Nigerian lenders are impeding the use of the nation’s digital currency because they are concerned about losing revenue from traditional banking services, according to central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele.
Only about 700,000 customers have created an e-naira wallets since its introduction in October last year, the central bank said early this year. There are about 55 million bank accounts in Africa’s most populous nation. E-naira-based transactions have also failed to pick up.