Appzone Co-founder and Managing Director, Obi Emetarom believes that encouraging the adoption of digital currency across the country is the most practical and perhaps the easiest way to achieve a fully financially included society.
Speaking at a fireside chat session at a Techpoint event in Lagos recently, the Appzone Co-founder noted how industry players and regulators have been encouraged to create a favourable environment to achieve a fully financially included economy.
Emetarom attributed Nigeria’s lack of full financial inclusion to the fact physical cash based on fiat currency is still very much in circulation as the main means of transaction.
“Because digital currencies do not have nor need paper cash equivalents, an immediate transition into fully digital payments based on digital currencies will achieve immediate 100% inclusion,” Emetarom said.
He, however, pointed out that regulation, interoperability, and ease of use are three key issues that must be addressed on the journey to full inclusion.
Despite all of the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), by the end of 2021, 36% of Nigerian adults (about 38 million people) still remained completely financially excluded. CBN has continued to explore diverse opportunities to achieve inclusion.
The eNaira that was launched in late 2021 is key to Nigeria’s inclusion strategy but the fact that its wallet requires a holder to have a bank account still leaves out the 38 million who are unbanked.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) report however shows that the eNaira wallet coverage is expected to eventually expand to anyone with a mobile phone even if they do not have a bank account.
Along with other solutions provided by Appzone, Emetarom believes that allowing any mobile phone to access the eNaira would increase financial inclusion and facilitate more direct and effective implementation of social transfer programs.
“At Appzone, our vision is for digital payments and DeFi to replace cash and traditional banking operations in Africa which will unlock universal financial inclusion and accelerate economic prosperity for our continent,” Emetarom remarked.
In December 2021, Appzone established itself as a leader in the development of technological infrastructure with the launch of Africa’s first blockchain decentralized payment network known as Zone.
With the principles of financial inclusion crucial to the Appzone mission, Zone provides a payment infrastructure platform that facilitates local and Intra-African payments in fiat and digital currencies.
Emetaron spoke passionately about Zone’s role saying, “financial institutions will be able to connect directly to one another on the blockchain without having to go through any central intermediary.”
He added that the technology has already been adopted by the major banks in Nigeria and is optimistic that this will promote a seamless cashless society and ease intra-African payments.