The Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) known as the eNaira has taken off with over N500m of the currency minted so far.

Speaking at the launch of the eNaira in Abuja on Monday, the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele said 33 banks have been fully integrated and live on the platform.

He disclosed that over N500m of the currency minted so far, with another N200 million issued to financial institutions.

Emefiele revealed that “customers who download the digital currency Speed Wallet App will be able to perform the following: onboard and create their wallet; fund their eNaira wallet from their bank account; transfer eNaira from their wallet to another wallet and make payment for purchases at registered merchant locations.”

According to him, the CBN “will continue to refine, fine-tune and upgrade the eNaira” and he assured that “Nigerians should expect to see additional functionalities in the coming months”.

Some of the additional functionalities include: accessibility and onboarding of customers without BVN and the use of the eNaira on the phone without the internet to further drive financial inclusion, making Nigeria one of the first countries in the world to deploy the CBDC via USSD on phones without relying on internet connectivity.