The Nigerian central bank hopes that the addition of NFC technology will improve the adoption rates for the country’s CBDC – eNaira

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continues efforts to push its?central bank digital currency (CBDC)?project, eNaira, having introduced the NFC functionality to the CBDC mobile app.

As we have previously reported, despite strong crypto support across the country, Nigerians have been largely reluctant to use the centralised digital currency, introduced by the government.

The government has tried various strategies to boost CBDC mass adoption, like incorporating QR codes. According to the CBN team leader, Joseph Angaye, the eNaira has evolved and received positive feedback from users and stakeholders.

To further improve customer experience, the bank now enables mobile devices and payment terminals to accept contactless payments using CBDC. In the future, Angaye foresees that the CBDC will be equipped with programmability features, helping to limit CBDC payments exclusively to designated government programs or specified locations. That is expected to reduce the risk of fraud and other settlement risks.

Programmability could also enable?targeted fund allocation to farmers, such as serving specific purposes like tool acquisition. This way, the eNaira wallet would become non-divertible for any unrelated purposes, ensuring strict adherence to the intended use of funds.