Nigeria’s central bank has set up a high-level task force to evaluate the potential rollout of a sovereign stablecoin, signaling a major rethink in the country’s digital currency strategy. The move was made public during the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, where the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reportedly outlined plans to collaborate with the Ministry of Finance and other regulators to assess policy, infrastructure, and risk implications for a Nigerian-issued stablecoin.
According to early assessments, the initiative is seen as a response to the underperformance of the country’s current central bank digital currency, the eNaira, which has struggled to gain traction since its October 2021 launch. Global observers have noted that the CBN appears to be adjusting to evolving market realities shaped by widespread adoption of privately-issued stablecoins and rising digital asset activity among Nigerians.
eNaira Uptake Remains Critically Low
Market data cited in international monitoring reports suggests the eNaira has failed to build sustainable demand. An IMF evaluation in 2023 indicated that only a fraction of citizens had ever adopted the CBDC, with the overwhelming majority of issued wallets remaining unused. Despite government-backed promotion campaigns and attempts to integrate the eNaira into public payments, the token remains largely absent from day-to-day transactions.
Technical and operational hurdles have compounded the adoption gap. The official mobile application was removed from Google Play, and the USSD interface ceased to function, leaving users with fewer access channels. Partnerships with blockchain service providers and proposals to expand eNaira usage across government and enterprise channels have not changed the adoption curve.
Stablecoins Already Dominate Nigeria’s Crypto Economy
Analysts tracking capital flows indicate that stablecoins have gained deep roots in Nigeria’s digital financial ecosystem. Remittance users and retail participants have increasingly turned to dollar-pegged tokens as a hedge against naira depreciation and to move cross-border funds with lower friction. Between mid-2023 and mid-2024, on-chain data suggests Nigeria processed stablecoin volumes approaching 22 billion dollars — the highest recorded level in sub-Saharan Africa.
Nigeria was ranked sixth globally in the latest Crypto Adoption Index, with stablecoins reportedly accounting for nearly half of all transaction volumes. Against this backdrop, the CBN’s shift toward an official stablecoin is widely interpreted as an effort to regain regulatory relevance and align monetary oversight with market realities rather than compete head-to-head with private instruments.
In a related development, the Africa Stablecoin Consortium secured regulatory approval in 2024 to pilot the cNGN token inside the CBN sandbox. The cNGN has been designed to interoperate across multiple blockchains and to coexist with the eNaira, suggesting that authorities had already begun testing dual-rail models prior to the latest announcement.
Economic Outlook Lifts While Policy Pivot Continues
While the domestic CBDC experiment has struggled, macro-forecasts for the Nigerian economy show an improving trajectory. Updated IMF projections point to stronger growth in 2025 and 2026 as oil output recovers and fiscal conditions stabilize. Policy observers believe the stablecoin task force reflects a broader pivot in the CBN’s digital finance strategy — from defending an underused CBDC toward crafting frameworks that integrate with the dominant instruments already shaping user behavior.
The formation of the committee marks the clearest indication so far that Nigeria is preparing to recalibrate its digital money strategy with an official stablecoin now actively under review and the future of the eNaira potentially subject to redesign or secondary positioning within a multi-token policy architecture.