The eNaira, Nigeria’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), is set to receive a boost in usage through a partnership between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Gluwa Nigeria, a blockchain-based financial platform. As an agent partner of the CBN, Gluwa will integrate its Credal technology into the eNaira platform, allowing for the creation of credit reputations for unbanked users. This move aims to enhance financial inclusion and make the CBDC more effective by providing accessible credit profiles across borders.
The CBN has been making various efforts to increase eNaira adoption, as it currently lags behind with less than 1% of Nigerians with bank accounts having eNaira wallets, and less than 1.5% of wallet holders actively using them on a weekly basis.
Credit ratings are a challenge in Africa, with only a small percentage of Africans having a credit score, making them “invisible” to lenders. Some blockchain-based solutions have offered credit histories using nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and capturing information from low-value peer-to-peer transactions.
Gluwa has been operating in Nigeria since at least 2022, when it collaborated with the Lagos regional government to tokenize agricultural assets. It also made a notable proposal to advise the Nigerian government on cryptocurrency policy in April 2023, in a country where there has been tension between the government and crypto exchanges.
Gluwa’s founder and CEO, Tae Oh, also leads the Creditcoin Network, a layer-1 blockchain similar to Gluwa. Creditcoin establishes a public ledger of credit history and on-chain loan performance.
In Africa, many payment solutions, including Gluwa, rely on mobile phones as an alternative to traditional financial infrastructure.