CBDC | The Central Bank of Nigeria Now Views the eNaira as Payment ‘Infrastructure Rathern Than Product’

Nigeria’s central bank is giving its underperforming digital currency, the eNaira, a second chance by repositioning it as a core piece of national payments infrastructure, rather than a standalone retail wallet, under a new five-year blueprint aimed at modernising the financial system by 2028.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) unveiled its Payments System Vision (PSV) 2028 in June 2026 signalling a strategic shift after the eNaira failed to achieve meaningful adoption since its launch in 2021.

Originally introduced as Africa’s first central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira was designed to deepen financial inclusion, reduce transaction costs, and accelerate Nigeria’s shift toward a cashless economy. Instead, uptake remained limited with users continuing to favour bank apps, fintech wallets, and mobile money platforms that offered similar or better functionality.

PSV 2020 focused on expanding electronic payments and modernisng the country’s payment infrastructure.

PSV 2025 put stronger emphasis on financial inclusion, agent banking, and interoperability rails needed to support a digital economy.

Now, under the PSV 2028 framework, the CBN is pushing for further financial inclusion to 95% from the current 52% and positioning the country as a regional payments infrastructure hub.

PSV 2028 is also reframing the eNaira as ‘infrastructure rather than product’ by embedding it within a broader ecosystem that includes open banking, digital identity systems, instant payments, and cross-border settlement rails.

The shift reflects a tacit acknowledgement of early design and adoption challenges associated with the eNaira.

For example, access requirements tied to Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and National Identification Numbers (NIN) excluded large segments of the unbanked population while limited merchant incentives and overlapping functionality with existing payment apps weakened its competitive edge.

Despite multiple upgrades that included USSD access and merchant payment pilots, the eNaira has remained a marginal player in Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital payments market.

The CBN says the new strategy will focus on

• interoperability,
• fraud prevention,
• cybersecurity and
• integration with regional payment systems.

Officials also see potential for the CBDC to support cross-border transactions and remittance flows within Africa’s emerging payments architecture.

“CBN reforms (National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2022, eNaira, Open Banking, Regulatory Sandbox, and PSV 2025) have modernised domestic payments and interoperability, while Nigerian Fintech firms have expanded digital solutions across Africa,” the CBN said.

“By aligning NIBSS and the eNaira with PAPSS and AfCFTA and leveraging over $20 billion in annual diaspora remittances, Nigeria can emerge as a core regional hub for trade settlement and remittances.” 

While the central bank has not outlined a full relaunch of the eNaira, its repositioning marks a clear departure from its original retail-focused model.

The bank is also looking at leveraging stablecoins as a common settlement asset between countries and currencies. The idea is to convert local currency into a stablecoin, transfer the value instantly across borers, and convert it into the recipient’s local currency as opposed to routing payments through multiple correspondent banks and other foreign exchange conversions.

“Move eNaira and regulated stablecoins from conceptual tools to live cross-border corridors for trade flows and remittances,” CBN said.

Instead of competing with fintechs and banks, the digital currency is now being folded into the underlying rails intended to support Nigeria’s broader financial infrastructure.

Whether the pivot succeeds will depend less on technology and more on whether the CBN can finally create real-world use cases that make the eNaira relevant in everyday transactions.

For now, the project that once struggled for traction is being recast not as a failed experiment, but as unfinished infrastructure.

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