The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has charged Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN to manage cyber security and operational risks associated with the newly launched eNaira.
An economist at the IMF’s African department, Jack Ree, made this known in an article titled ‘Five Observations on Nigeria’s Central Bank Digital Currency’, and released on Tuesday.
According to him: “Like digital currencies elsewhere, the eNaira carries risks for monetary policy implementation, cyber security, operational resilience, and financial integrity and stability,”
“For example, eNaira wallets may be perceived, or even effectively function, as a deposit at the central bank, which may reduce demand for deposits in commercial banks.
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“Relying as it does on digital technology, there is a need to manage cybersecurity and operational risks associated with the eNaira.”
The statement reads: “Financial integrity risks, such as those arising from the potential use of the eNaira for monetary laundering, are mitigated by using a tiered identity verification system and applying more stringent controls to relatively less verified users,”
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“For example, for now only people with a bank verification number can open a wallet, but over time coverage will be expanded to people with registered SIM cards and to those with mobile phones but no ID numbers.
“The latter categories of holders would be subject to tighter transactions and balance limits. Even so, wallet holders who meet the highest identity verification standards cannot hold more than 5 million naira (about $12,200) each in their eNaira wallets.
“To address cybersecurity risk, regular IT security assessments are expected to be conducted.”
