The Federal Government may begin paying salaries, pensions and social welfare benefits through the eNaira under a new roadmap introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria aimed at transforming the country’s digital currency into a major payment channel.
The proposal is contained in the Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028, a strategic document released by the apex bank to expand the use of the eNaira and transition it from a pilot initiative into a core payment infrastructure for both public and private sector transactions.
The eNaira, launched in October 2021 as Africa’s first central bank digital currency, was introduced to deepen financial inclusion, reduce transaction and remittance costs, and accelerate Nigeria’s transition to a cashless economy.
CBN targets government payments through eNaira
According to the roadmap, the CBN plans to revisit the existing Central Bank Digital Currency framework to better align with market realities and improve operational efficiency.
The document stated:
“Transition CBDC from pilot to core payment rail through defined use cases.”
Among the identified use cases are government-to-person payments, payroll processing, offline payments and support for micro-enterprises.
If implemented, government salaries, pensions, conditional cash transfers and other public-sector disbursements could eventually be processed through the eNaira platform.
Programmable money features introduced
The roadmap also highlighted advanced capabilities of the digital currency through programmable money functions.
According to the document, “The ‘programmable money’ feature of digital currency could have additional features such as time-limits, purpose-specific usage, splitting payments, sub-wallets, etc.”
The CBN said these capabilities could improve payment controls, expand financial innovation and strengthen digital transaction systems.
The bank also noted that the eNaira could support financial market infrastructure by improving settlement systems and facilitating transactions involving tokenised assets, bonds and securities.
CBN pushes wider digital payments agenda
In the foreword to the Payments System Vision 2028, Olayemi Cardoso said the initiative was designed to strengthen Nigeria’s position as a leading digital payments market.
Mr Cardoso stated:
“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.”
Similarly, the CBN Deputy Governor for Economic Policy, Muhammad Abdullahi, said the framework would expand innovative payment technologies within a stronger regulatory environment.
Low adoption remains major challenge
Despite recording millions of wallet registrations and transactions valued at about ₦22bn, the CBN acknowledged that the eNaira has struggled to achieve broad everyday adoption.
The document identified key challenges including limited merchant participation, weak integration with banking and fintech ecosystems and the absence of live cross-border payment corridors.
To address this, the apex bank plans to reposition the eNaira for government payments, remittances and trade settlements while opening APIs for fintech integration.
The roadmap also proposes bilateral CBDC pilots with strategic trade and remittance partners to support international digital transactions.
The proposal comes as central banks globally continue exploring digital currencies as alternatives to traditional cash systems and private digital assets.
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