According to a Central Bank of Nigeria official, Nigeria has been researching Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) for two years and it could launch a pilot CBDC before the end of 2021
During a news conference on Thursday, Rakiya Mohammed who is an IT specialist at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said that the central bank has been researching the possibility of a CBDC for the last two years. He said,
“Before the end of the year, the central bank will be making [a] special announcement and possibly launching a pilot scheme in order to be able to provide this kind of currency to the populace.”
This comes at a time when authorities in Nigeria have been debating on how private cryptocurrencies should be regulated in the country, which is one of the countries in Africa with the most cryptocurrency users.
At the beginning of 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) ordered banks to close down cryptocurrency linked bank accounts. This ban was later clarified by the governor of the CBN who said that cryptocurrency trading was still allowed only that banks were not allowed to offer cryptocurrency custodial services to customers.
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