June 5, 2026|⏱️~ 8minutes

By Nicholas Brennan

In October 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched eNaira – a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). As of June 2026, the project has been running for nearly five years. The government set multiple goals for it: improving financial inclusion, lowering remittance costs, and making government payments more efficient. However, various industry data and international assessments suggest that eNaira’s real-world usage is far below expectations.

This article looks at public statistics, industry reports, and academic research to understand how eNaira is actually used, why adoption has been low, and what this means for other emerging markets considering a CBDC.

1. Three Policy Goals Behind eNaira

According to public documents from the CBN, eNaira was designed around three main objectives.

First: increase financial inclusion.
Data from the World Bank’s Global Findex Database (2025) shows that while 63% of Nigerian adults had a financial account by 2024, more than onethird remain outside the formal banking system. eNaira does not require a physical bank branch – anyone with a mobile phone can open a wallet. The idea was to reach people that traditional banks overlook.

Second: lower the cost of crossborder remittances.
Many Nigerians live abroad. World Bank data indicates that remittance inflows to Nigeria peaked at $24.25 billion in 2018. Traditional services like Western Union and MoneyGram often charge high fees and take days to settle. eNaira was designed to let the diaspora send money home faster and at a lower cost.

Third: improve monetary policy execution and government payouts.
Because every eNaira transaction leaves a digital record, the central bank could in theory track money flows more accurately – helping to fight money laundering and terrorist financing. It could also deliver social subsidies more directly, reducing leaks in the distribution chain.

These goals sounded reasonable and urgent. At the launch, former President Muhammadu Buhari predicted that eNaira could add about $29 billion to Nigeria’s GDP over a decade.

2. Actual Usage: What the Data Shows

Realworld numbers tell a very different story.

Adoption has been low.
According to an IMF report published in 2023, only about 0.5% of Nigerians were using eNaira one year after its launch. By mid2023, an analysis based on IMF data noted that roughly 98.5% of eNaira wallets had never been used. By early 2024, the number of registered wallets had grown to about 13 million – but most remained inactive.

Circulation is tiny.
Data from February 2025 shows that eNaira in circulation stood at about 18.31 billion naira (roughly $11.4 million). That is only 0.37% of Nigeria’s total money supply.

People are turning to cryptocurrencies instead.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis reported that Nigeria ranked second in the world in its 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index, and sixth in 2025. A Nigeria Web3 industry report found that in 2025, the country recorded $48.2 million in daily P2P stablecoin trading on centralized exchanges – the highest in the world. France 24 also reported in May 2026 that cryptocurrencies have become part of daily life for nearly one in ten Nigerians.

3. Why Is No One Using eNaira? Five Main Reasons

Industry reports and academic studies point to several interconnected factors.

Reason 1: Private mobile money got there first.
Before eNaira launched, Nigeria already had mature mobile payment platforms like Opay, Moniepoint, and Paga. These services were already widely accepted and covered transfers, bill payments, and merchant transactions. Analysts suggest that eNaira’s main problem is not technology – it is a lack of clear value. People see no compelling reason to switch.

Reason 2: Loss of trust in the naira itself.
Inflation has been persistently high. The IMF forecast in April 2025 that Nigeria’s inflation could reach 37% in 2026. Between 2023 and 2025, the naira depreciated from below 900 naira per US dollar to more than 1,500. In an environment where the local currency keeps losing value, holding naira – whether paper or digital – is not a rational choice.

Reason 3: Regulation mismatched with demand.
In February 2021, the CBN banned commercial banks from dealing with crypto exchanges. But industry reports indicate that the ban did not stop crypto usage – it simply drove it underground. P2P trading platforms boomed, creating an informal but efficient overthecounter market.

Reason 4: Technical and infrastructure issues.
Shortly after launch, the Android version of the eNaira app was temporarily removed from the Google Play Store because of user complaints about difficult registration and sluggish performance. Low internet coverage and limited smartphone ownership in northern and rural Nigeria also restrict adoption.

Reason 5: Distrust of government institutions.
Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index gave Nigeria a score of 26 out of 100, ranking it 142nd globally. Some residents are wary of a governmentcontrolled digital currency. This distrust is not aimed specifically at eNaira – it is about the institution behind it.

4. Shifts in Policy: From Crackdown to Coexistence

The government’s stance has changed notably over the past two years.

In late 2023, the CBN lifted its ban on crypto trading through the banking system, allowing banks to open accounts for licensed crypto firms. The 2025 Investments and Securities Act formally recognized digital assets as securities, creating a legal framework for exchanges and service providers. This move from prohibition to regulation suggests that policymakers now accept that demand for crypto is homegrown and cannot be banned away.

At the same time, eNaira’s positioning has been adjusted. In 2026, it was refocused on governmenttoperson payments and crossborder remittances – not replacing everyday cash. In late 2025, the CBN also announced a stablecoin working group to assess the framework for launching an official stablecoin.

5. What the eNaira Case Teaches Us

Based on these facts and trends, several observations stand out.

First, trust matters more than technology.
eNaira’s technology is not the problem. The problem is that the naira itself is losing trust. When a local currency suffers from high inflation and steady depreciation, turning it into a digital form does not make it more attractive. People want a relatively stable store of value – not a digital version of an unstable currency.

Second, government cannot simply order people to use a CBDC.
The CBN tried to use eNaira to compete with private cryptocurrencies, but people voted with their feet and chose the private option. User choice is decentralized and bottomup, while government promotion is centralized and topdown. When the two products are fundamentally different (one depreciates, the other is tied to a more stable asset), administrative power rarely wins.

Third, CBDCs may work better for specific use cases than for replacing everyday cash.
Five years of eNaira show that replacing wellestablished private mobile money with a governmentrun digital currency is extremely hard. But eNaira can still play a role in areas like subsidy distribution and interinstitutional settlements.

Fourth, Nigeria’s experience offers a useful test case for other emerging markets.
Before launching a retail CBDC, policymakers might want to ask: Is the local currency basically trusted? Has the private sector already solved most of the payments problem? What real need would the CBDC address? If the answers are unclear, a rushed project may run into similar difficulties.

Closing Thoughts

eNaira is Africa’s largest economy’s attempt at a digital currency. It came with high hopes for financial inclusion, cheaper remittances, and greater policy transparency. But nearly five years of operation show a wide gap between those hopes and reality.

That does not mean eNaira has no value. It has made Nigeria one of the few countries in the world actually running a CBDC, providing real data and experience for future policy adjustments and international comparisons. Still, the takeaway is clear: the success of a digital currency depends on whether it solves real problems that people face – and those problems are often not technical. They lie in economic fundamentals, institutional trust, and the choices people make in the market.

Disclaimer: This article is based on publicly available data and industry reports. It is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment or financial advice. The trends and opinions expressed are reasonable inferences based on available evidence. Financial markets are uncertain, and readers should make their own independent judgments.

Data Sources:

[1] World Bank–Global Findex Database (2025) and annual remittance reports

[2] International Monetary Fund (IMF)–eNaira assessment (2023) and World Economic Outlook (2025)

[3] Transparency International–Corruption Perceptions Index (2025)

[4] Chainalysis–Global Crypto Adoption Index (2024, 2025)

[5] Hashed Emergent–Nigeria Web3 Landscape Report (2025)

[6] National Bureau of Statistics (Nigeria)–inflation data (2025–2026)

[7] Central Bank of Nigeria–official bulletins; industry platform BitKE compilations

[8] AllBusiness Africa–African CBDC market report (2026)

[9] France 24–television news feature (May 2026)

About the Author

Nicholas Brennan is a long-term observer and writer in the field of fintech. Over the past decade, his work has focused on global payment systems, digital currencies, and the modernization of bank core systems. He is skilled at translating complex underlying technical logic into clear business narratives. He has served as a technical and strategic advisor at several international financial institutions and consulting firms. Currently, he mainly writes in-depth analyses for industry publications, tracking how financial infrastructure is evolving globally.