Cash Crunch: Lagos Traders To Partner CBN On e-Naira

As Lagos residents and traders groan and queue for long hours in bank premises in the state due to the current scarcity of cash caused by transition from a predominantly cash-based economy to a cashless one, the traders have expressed their preparedness to partner with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Bullnet Group on eNaira to cushion the effects of the cash crunch.

The president of Balogun Business Association (BBA), Mr. Oscar Odogwu, revealed thisyesterday in Lagos at a media parley on the current cash crunch and how the services introduced by Bullnet Group on the USSD Channel of the e-Naira launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021 can solve the problem.

 Odogwu said the eNaira powered by Bullnet Group is a welcome development, saying, “We will partner the CBN and Bullnet on eNaira. I believe it will be more of a help to the traders. It will surely enhance our trades and businesses and settle the hassles we are currently going through .You know we traders don’t have time to stay endlessly in the banks waiting to cash money.

‘’With this eNaira, I believe it will go a long way to improve our businesses and at the same time it will curtail theft. We move around the markets and its environs with huge sums of money. With this eNaira, it will curtail theft. We will key into this CBN cashless economy because we the traders are the victims. We will do our best to sensitize the traders on the eNaira. The Bullnet too will be of help to us.’’

In his address, the founder and chief executive office of Bullnet Group, Mr. Bayo Akintoye, said, “The CBN has employed the services of indigenous tech firms and start-ups with innovative ideas and proposals that are relevant to the specific Nigerian market conditions, are economically viable and operationally feasible within the CBDC ecosystem thus showing their relentless support for home-grown talents.

‘’One such homegrown start-up is the patented Bullnet Platform that was given the chance to use its technology to proffer solutions to peculiar needs and requirements of the Nigerian masses as it adopts and uses the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as the main medium for payments, settlements and remittances.’’

The director of information and technology, project coordinator, eNaira at CBN, Madam Rakiya Mohammed, represented by Mr. Otaru Abdulkadri, said the eNaira was not introduced to replace traditional banking but to support the existing platforms of banking through electronic payments, cash transfers, creating a more efficient and resilient environment for seamless transaction.