According to CoinDesk, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is collaborating with blockchain technology firm Gluwa Nigeria to enhance the efficiency and adoption of the eNaira digital currency in the country. The central bank plans to issue application programming interfaces (APIs) to Gluwa for integration with the company's Credal blockchain technology. The core objective of this partnership is to harness the power of blockchain technology to improve financial inclusion, enhance eNaira functionality, and foster financial innovation.
Connecting the eNaira to Gluwa's Credal blockchain API technology will ensure easier loan origination, tracking, settlement, and credit scoring for local fintech lenders. Nigeria has been working to broaden the acceptance of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) since its launch in 2021. The number of eNaira wallets increased more than 12-fold between October 2022 and March 2023 to 13 million, and the value of transactions climbed 63% to 22 billion naira ($14 million) in the first four months of last year.
Despite these efforts, eNaira adoption has not caught up with cash use in Africa's most populous country, partly due to a lack of merchants that accept it. Nigeria has a $220 billion informal economy that thrives on cash, and the CBN aims to boost eNaira adoption by connecting it to Gluwa's Credal blockchain API technology.
