A year after launching Africa’s first digital currency, Nigeria’s central bank is turning to the nation’s three-wheeler taxi operators to speed the adoption of the eNaira, as regulators across the world scrutinize its every move.
It’s offering a 5% discount to drivers and passengers of the motorized rickshaws — known locally as Keke Napep — who use the eNaira. It’s the latest attempt to kickstart the digital currency, which has so far attracted just 1 in 200 people in the continent’s most populous country.
The central bank’s focus on the digital currency is creating confusion among many Nigerians, who fail to see the difference between the government-backed eNaira and cryptocurrencies. For drivers of Keke Napep, the most popular form of transport around the gridlocked streets of Lagos and other cities, the heavy promotion of the eNaira just as authorities crack down on cryptocurrencies has them befuddled. The Central Bank of Nigeria has barred commercial banks from doing business with crypto exchanges.
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