Trademark Journal Says eNaira, CBN’s Digital Currency Is Tobacco-Related
Fresh revelation has shown that the eNaira, the digital currency of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that was launched in 2021 may have been registered under deceptive circumstances.
The new revelation about the eNaira, which is contained in the Nigerian Online Trademark Journal, describes the digital currency as a tobacco-related item.
The Journal in its Vol.1 No. 6 of 18th November 2021 shows that the eNaira trademark attributed to the CBN bore Registration Number NG/TM/O/2021/45315 dated October 30, 2021, and in Class 34.
However, the eNaira, a digital currency was described by the Trademark Journal as “Tobacco, Cigarettes; Cigars; Snuff, Cigarette papers, Tobacco pipes, not of precious metal; Cigarette filters; Cigarette Cases, not of precious metal, Tobacco Pouches, Cigarette lighters, Not of Precious Metals, Matches; Tobacco pipe cleaners; Ashtrays for smokers, not of precious metal; Cigar cutters.”
Odilim Enwegbara, an analyst and a development economist said the new revelation shows that despite the denial by the apex bank, the image suggests that CBN not only secured the eNaira trademark but did so through questionable methods.
“CBN’s eNaira website is officially enaira.gov.ng, which is legitimate, but secretly linked to that is enaira.com, which is unauthorised. This explains that while enaira.gov.ng is connected to the official domain network, enaira.com is falsely linked to it, risking users’ data to cyber threats”, stated Enwegbara.
“This indicates that the eNaira digital currency and its trademark were established under deceptive circumstances,” he said.
Amid this revelation, a new report has raised concerns about Nigeria’s central bank digital currency, eNaira, indicating potential risks to financial stability despite its success in narrowing the country’s financial inclusion gap.
While the CBN championed eNaira for enhancing financial inclusion and expanding the size of banks’ deposit base, its report, titled “Economics of Digital Currency” warns about stability risks due to the conversion of bank deposits into eNaira.
The report noted, “Since its inception, bank deposit conversion to e-naira has exhibited an average monthly growth of 78.3 percent and totalled about N1.66bn [$2.1 million].
“Furthermore, eNaira in circulation as a ratio of average banking system liquidity has averaged 0.1 percent, reaching highs of 0.2 percent in each of May and August 2022,” the CBN report noted.
According to the report, the impact arises from the fact that funds converted by customers into eNaira are held within wallets domiciled with the CBN, rendering them unavailable for lending activities by commercial banks.
As of December 2021, the CBN minted a total of N2bn in eNaira. This milestone, coupled with the nuanced challenges faced by commercial banks due to the eNaira’s issuance and exchange processes, has sparked discussions within the financial sector.
It noted that the sluggish growth is attributed to the slow adoption rate among individual users, evident in the low number of active consumer wallets, totalling 10,420.
The report revealed that the number marked an improvement from previous months, reflecting 187,190 wallets activated for use as of July 2022.
Despite these efforts, challenges persist, hindering the broader adoption of the eNaira in Nigeria’s digital financial landscape.
Further, the apex bank noted that eNaira can also negatively affect banks’ overall profitability via reduced non-interest income. The CBDC also comes with increased cyberattack risks, the report said.
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