The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Saturday, said it has so far disbursed N149.21bn to 316,869 households and small and medium enterprises through the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank from the N150bn Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) created to alleviate the plight of households and business owners affected by the coronavirus pandemic that swept across the world last year.
Given the resounding success of the programme for driving output growth and economic recovery, Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, announced the decision to “to double this fund to about N300bn, in order to accommodate many more beneficiaries and boost consumer expenditure (a situation) which should positively stimulate the economy.”
Emefiele, in his keynote address at the 30th Seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors, on the theme: “Leveraging the digital economy to drive growth, job creation and sustainable development,” said “in line with the growing need to go digital, the application process is done online and requires limited paperwork from prospective applicants.”
Emefiele reiterated that the apex bank did not impose any new restrictions on the use of cryptocurrency in the country, the recent directive, according to him, “only amplified an earlier regulation on the subject.
“The recent directive became necessary to protect the financial system and the generality of Nigerians from the risks inherent in crypto asset transactions, which have escalated in recent times, with consequences on financial stability and implementation of monetary policy,” he stressed.
The latest policy stand, he continued, “does not preclude Nigerians from harnessing the benefits of the underlying technology that support crypto transactions, which is a distributed ledger, commonly referred to as blockchain.”
Continuing, Emefiele said “there are several examples where blockchain technology has been used to facilitate and improve transparency in the settlement of trade transactions.
“Our regulatory sandbox is available for fintech companies to explore the use of blockchain technology in areas that would be beneficial to the Nigerian economy,” he assured.
The CBN governor spoke of the need, given the pace of technological adoption increases, to find ways to leverage digital channels in improving access to finance and access to credit for all Nigerians.
That is why, he continued, the digital economy, comprising various components, including data analytics, robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, e-commerce, e-business, e-infrastructure, will going forward, be a key factor towards our efforts at driving growth over the next few years.
“It is based on the interconnectedness of people, organizations, and machines that results from the Internet, mobile technology and the Internet of Things (IoT), adding that “one of the strongest advantages of technology is that it shrinks time and space and reduces the world as a global village, thereby providing connectivity at the click of a button to anyone anywhere in the world.”
To further drive growth, Nigeria, he believes, “needs to build a solid digital economy, by focusing on digital infrastructure (internet connectivity most importantly), digital literacy and skills, digital financial services, digital platforms and digital entrepreneurship and innovation.
“As the biggest economy in Africa with one of the largest youth populations in the world, Nigeria is well-positioned to develop a strong digital economy. Consequently, there is need to focus on accelerating improvements across five fundamental pillars of a digital economy: digital infrastructure, digital platforms, digital financial services, digital entrepreneurship, and digital skills.”
