By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken awareness of its digital currency, eNaira, to the University of Abuja community.
According to Mr Joseph Angaye, Deputy Director, Risk Management Department, who led the CBN team, the visit was to enlighten the university community about the eNaira project.
Angaye said that apex bank had been engaging tertiary institutions across the country on the digital currency project, to ensure that it was adopted as a means of financial transactions and for payment.
“The eNaira is Nigeria’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) that has evolved since its inauguration by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021.
“The CBDC is a new concept globally, and Nigeria is one one of the early countries to adopt it,” he said.
He explained that the eNaira had so much benefit, but was not a replacement for the existing payment system.
He added that the digital currency was introduced to deepen the payment system; to address some inherent challenges in the existing payment infrastructure and to complement it.
“The eNaira will help promote financial inclusion, to reduce pressure in the infrastructure,” he said.
The Vice-chancellor, University of Abuja, Prof. Ahmed Modibo, said that the university was ready to partner with the CBN.
Modibo, who was represented by Prof. Aisha Maikudi, Deputy Vice-chancellor, Academics, however, urged the apex bank to always consider University of Abuja first in its intervention programmes for tertiary institutions.
He also called on the CBN to help resolve the school’s challenges with the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which restricts it from accessing research grants from foreign donors.
“We are in the knowledge industry which requires serious funding, and if we are not able to access research grants to complement government subvention, it will set us back, ” he said.
The vice-chancellor also urged the CBN to urgently complete and inaugurate its intervention projects on the campus for the use of staff and students.
