The website of Nigeria’s digital currency, eNaira, went live on Monday.
This is coming days to its official launch on October 1 as earlier disclosed by the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele.
The site, on its welcome note, said the eNaira is a Central Bank of Nigeria-issued digital currency that provides a unique form of money denominated in Naira.
“eNaira serves as both a medium of exchange and a store of value, offering better payment prospects in retail transactions when compared to cash payments. eNaira has an exclusive operational structure that is both remarkable and nothing like other forms of central bank money,” the note says.
“There are several benefits from a central bank-issued digital currency in Nigeria, and this cuts across different sectors of, and concerns of the economy.”
The apex bank had earlier stated that is a legal tender just like the naira that must be accepted by all merchants and business outlets as a form of payment in the country.
It is developed by a Barbados-based fintech company, Bitt Inc., with CBN owning a majority stake in the company once registered in Nigeria.
Emefiele said the CBN went through a “rigorous” vendor selection process and Bitt came first with an average of 82.3 per cent, scoring above the other 5. bidders.
He said from October 1, Nigerians should be able to download the eNaira application from either Google play store or Apple app store.
“They would be able to find their wallets using their bank accounts and conduct transactions such as transfers and purchases at merchant outlets that have boarded to the platform,” he said.