eNaira, the Bitt-developed central bank digital currency (CBDC), has officially rolled out in Nigeria. Citizens and residents of Nigeria are now the first on the continent of Africa to use a legal tender digital currency for their daily financial transactions.

Bitt is very excited to be entering the African CBDC market as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Technology Partner. Bitt’s market-proven Digital Currency Management System (DCMS) is currently licensed by national financial institutions in six countries across Central America and the Caribbean. Nigeria is a sophisticated economy which operates on a modern infrastructure. Bitt’s DCMS fulfilled CBN’s criteria for technological competence, efficiency, platform security, interoperability, and implementation experience.

CEO of Bitt, Brian Popelka, “We are elated to have developed, tested and deployed the eNaira monetary infrastructure in record time. Today’s launch is an exceptional achievement for both the CBN and Bitt teams. We look forward to continued partnership on this CBDC deployment journey and to provide additional features to expand eNaira’s value to all Nigerians.”

Bitt is driven by the empowerment of people through providing accessible, low-cost, and real-time payments; and supporting the digitization of economies. Bitt’s DCMS could lower infrastructure cost and improve the access and user experience of receiving and sending money, thereby promoting financial inclusion throughout Nigeria. Furthermore, the eNaira has been designed to promote local innovation, leveraging Nigeria’s world-class FinTech talent.

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Bitt’s DCMS is a production-ready digital currency infrastructure that enables central banks and financial institutions to efficiently deploy their own digital currency. Bitt’s DCMS plugs into the underlying transaction network of choice, such as Hyperledger Fabric (used in the implementations of DCash in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union and the eNaira in Nigeria), and Stellar (to be presented at the 2021 Singapore Fintech Festival).