Experts Suggest Ways To Increase Digital Currency Penetration

Abuja

Experts in the digital currency space have agreed on ways to deepen acceptability of digital currency in Nigeria, especially the Central Bank of Nigeria owned eNaira. They were unanimous on that fact that inclusion of the unbanked into the financial sector is made possible by providing technologies as long as the appropriate operational models and regulatory frameworks are implemented.

Founder, Blockchain Centre and CEO of Bitcoin Sam Lee said the progress of eNaira can be enhanced by stable coin regulation to create healthy competition to the existing government-backed eNaira system.

Lee said to increase digital currency penetration into the market would mean that there has to be a stable coin framework so that the market can create competing systems to the eNaira. “Competition is great if it’s from the private sector,” he said, “but under regulatory regime.”

He is also the chairman of blockchain lab under the China Academy of Science, which is the largest research institute in the world. It drives the adoption of digital currencies in the Chinese domestic market.

Speaking at a pre-conference virtual meeting with the theme: “Building a Cashless Syatem: Understanding the Digital Currency, Lesson from eNaira,” the experts say Nigeria and indeed Africa need to urgently create cashless economy that is driven by technology.

“So, if there is a strong private sector competition.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) has raised a total of N3.3 trillion from the domestic market to help the government generate revenue to finance the deficit in the 2022 budget.

The federal government had given the debt office a mandate to raise the total sum of N3.56 trillion from the domestic front for the financing of the national budget.

The DMO has also issued a fresh N100 billion SUKUK offer for subscription which is the third of its kind in the domestic capital. SUKUK is a project-tied borrowing that enables the government to raise funding for specific road and bridges infrastructures.

The SUKUK offer and the utilisation which many said is extremely important would close next Tuesday. The current SUKUK instrument has 15.6 percent rental returns. The expectation is that it would be oversubscribed as the previous ones.

Speaking at a stakeholder briefing yesterday in Abuja, director-general of the DMO Patience Oniha said beyond the advantage of financing infrastructure, SUKUK is a retail investment for promoting financial inclusion. The meeting was organized to to sensitise people about the instrument.

“So overall, we’re specifically borrowing to fund infrastructure. But we’re also developing the market and giving people more investment opportunities,” Ms Oniha said while insisting that government borrowing from the domestic market does not crowd out private sector investment in any way.

Oniha