Nigeria updates currency notes

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria on Wednesday launched newly designed currency notes, a move that the West African nation’s central bank says will help curb inflation and money laundering.

The newly designed denominations also would drive financial inclusion and economic growth, said Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

But experts are skeptical about such results in a country that has battled corruption for decades, with government officials known to loot public funds.

Nigeria’s currency has not been redesigned in 19 years, and the new initiative is the latest introduced by policymakers in Africa’s biggest economy in their quest for a cashless and more inclusive economy.