E-Naira’s Big Jump: Surges by 284%, While Regular Money Drops to ₦2.7tn, CBN Says

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently shared some interesting news about the eNaira. It turns out the eNaira is getting more popular, shooting up by a huge 284.6% in August, reaching a cool ₦9.78 billion. At the same time, the amount of regular money – you know, the notes and coins we use – actually went down by 14%, ending up at ₦2.65 trillion. This info comes from the CBN’s ‘Economic Report’ for August 2023.

Now, even though the eNaira is growing fast, it’s still a small part of the money everyone uses. The CBN explained, “The eNaira rose by 284.6% to ₦9.78 billion, but compared to regular money, it’s still not a lot – just 0.37%. Regular money, like notes and coins, makes up a big 99.63%.”

When we look at all the money floating around, the CBN says there was an 11.7% drop in the total, down to ₦2.66 trillion in August. They think more people are choosing to use other ways to pay, like sending money electronically or using digital platforms.

Even though the CBN introduced the eNaira in 2021, not everyone is using it much. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), almost 99% of eNaira wallets haven’t been touched one year later. The IMF’s report, called ‘Nigeria’s eNaira, One Year After,’ tells us, “Only about 860,000 people have downloaded the eNaira app, and that’s just 0.8% of all the bank accounts in Nigeria.”

So, while eNaira is growing, it looks like most people are still sticking to the good old notes and coins.