CBN Plans to Route Salaries, Pensions Through eNaira

The Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, is considering channeling government salaries, pensions and social welfare payments through the eNaira platform as part of a broader push to revive the country’s struggling digital currency.

The proposal is contained in the Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028, a new CBN roadmap that seeks to move the eNaira from a pilot project to a core payment rail for both government and private-sector transactions.

The apex bank stated in the document that it planned to “transition CBDC from pilot to core payment rail through defined use cases,” identifying government-to-person payments, payroll processing, offline payments and micro-enterprise enablement as priority applications.

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The CBN also highlighted the programmable-money potential of the digital currency, noting that “the ‘programmable money’ feature of digital currency could have additional features such as time-limits, purpose-specific usage, splitting payments, sub-wallets, etc.”

Launched in October 2021 as Africa’s first central bank digital currency, the eNaira has recorded millions of wallet registrations and transactions valued at approximately N22bn, but uptake in everyday economic activity has remained weak. The CBN attributed this to limited merchant adoption, poor integration with banking and fintech applications, and the absence of live cross-border payment corridors.

To address these gaps, the bank said it would reposition the eNaira for government payments, remittances and trade settlements, open application programming interfaces for fintech integration, and launch bilateral CBDC corridor pilots with key trade and remittance partners.

CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso said the vision was designed to consolidate Nigeria’s standing as a leading digital payments market. “PSV2028 sets clear strategic priorities: modernising payments infrastructure, strengthening regulatory and supervisory frameworks, accelerating the adoption of digital financial services, and fostering deeper collaboration across stakeholders,” he stated.

The CBN’s Deputy Governor for Economic Policy, Dr Muhammad Abdullahi, added that “the PSV2028 seeks to deepen and scale these initiatives, while also assessing and adopting new technologies capable of expanding the reach, functionality and quality of financial services.”