The Federal Government may soon begin paying workers’ salaries, pensions and social welfare benefits through the eNaira platform as part of a new plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to expand the adoption of the country’s digital currency.
The proposal is contained in the Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028, a roadmap released by the apex bank to strengthen digital payments and increase the role of the eNaira in daily financial transactions.
The eNaira was launched in October 2021 as Africa’s first central bank digital currency.
It was introduced to promote financial inclusion, reduce transaction costs, support cashless payments and simplify money transfers.
However, despite its objectives, the platform has struggled to gain widespread acceptance among Nigerians since its launch.
Under the new roadmap, the CBN plans to move the eNaira beyond its pilot phase and position it as a major payment channel for both government and private-sector transactions.
The apex bank said it intends to review the existing framework guiding the digital currency to ensure it aligns with current market realities and operational requirements.
According to the proposal, government payments to citizens, salary processing, offline transactions and support for small businesses have been identified as key areas where the eNaira could be deployed.
If implemented, public sector salaries, pensions, conditional cash transfers and other government disbursements could eventually be processed through the platform.
The CBN also highlighted the digital currency’s programmable features, which allow funds to be tailored for specific purposes.
According to the bank, these features could enable spending deadlines to be attached to funds, restrict payments to approved uses, automate the division of payments and create separate digital wallets for different financial needs.
The apex bank believes such capabilities could improve payment efficiency while enabling faster and more cost-effective transactions.
The roadmap further stated that the eNaira could play a greater role in the financial sector by supporting settlement systems, banking operations and digital representations of financial assets such as bonds and securities.
The CBN maintained that expanding the use of the eNaira forms part of broader efforts to modernise Nigeria’s payment ecosystem and accelerate the country’s transition to a more digitally driven economy.
