The Federal Government may begin paying salaries, pensions and social welfare benefits through the eNaira under a new Central Bank of Nigeria roadmap aimed at transforming the country’s digital currency into a major payment channel.
The proposal is contained in the Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028, released by the CBN, which outlines plans to expand the use of the eNaira and move it from a pilot project to a core payment rail for government 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 the cost of transactions and remittances, and promote a cashless economy. However, adoption has remained relatively low despite years of regulatory support.
In the new document, the apex bank said it would revisit the existing CBDC framework to better align it with market realities and operational needs.
The CBN stated, “Transition CBDC from pilot to core payment rail through defined use cases.” It identified government-to-person payments, payroll processing, offline payments and micro-enterprise enablement as key domestic applications for the digital currency.
The proposal suggests that government salaries, pensions, conditional cash transfers and other public-sector disbursements could in future be channelled through the eNaira platform as part of efforts to accelerate adoption and improve payment efficiency.
The document further highlighted the programmable-money features of the digital currency, noting that it could support advanced functionalities such as time limits on spending, purpose-specific payments, payment splitting and sub-wallet creation.
According to the CBN, “The ‘programmable money’ feature of digital currency could have additional features such as time-limits, purpose-specific usage, splitting payments, sub-wallets, etc.”
The bank added that the digital currency could also strengthen financial market infrastructure by supporting settlement systems, banks and tokenised financial assets, including bonds and securities, while making transactions faster and cheaper.
The initiative forms part of the broader Payments System Vision 2028, which seeks to modernise Nigeria’s payment ecosystem through greater adoption of digital financial services, stronger payment infrastructure and the deployment of emerging technologies.
CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso, in the foreword to the document, said the payments system vision was designed to consolidate Nigeria’s position as a leading digital payments market while improving efficiency, resilience and inclusiveness.
He said, “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.”
The document showed that the apex bank intends to deepen and scale existing initiatives, including contactless payments, open banking and the Central Bank Digital Currency.
The CBN’s Deputy Governor for Economic Policy, Dr Muhammad Abdullahi, said the vision would support the broader application of digital currencies and other innovative payment technologies within a robust regulatory framework.
