Over 90% of all countries in the world are discussing the introduction of a CBDC. And almost half of them are actually working on it: over 80 countries are in a development, pilot or launch phase. However, in the media discussion of the digital euro, projects by other countries to issue digital central bank money (CBDC) are rarely discussed. Often little is known. Very few have actually introduced a CBDC so far: The Bahamas’ Sand Dollar was officially launched in October 2020 and the Nigerian eNaira in October 2021.
In the first of two episodes on non-European CBDC projects, the podcast Digitalgelddickicht focuses on these two. What prompted a small island state in the Caribbean and the most populous country in Africa to introduce a CBDC? What are their motivations and what are their experiences to date? What can CBDCs do in countries where people have limited access to banks and many do not have bank accounts? Are Sand Dollar and eNaira well received by citizens or retailers? What problems are there? What was discussed, negotiated and legislated before their introduction?
Further information and sources
International Overview
■ Atlantic Council Central Bank Digital Currency Tracker: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker/
■ CBDC Tracker: https://cbdctracker.org/
■ Bank for International Settlements (BIS) et al: Central bank digital currencies: foundational principles and core features, 2020.
■ MIT Digital Currency Initiative et al: CBDC – Expanding Financial Inclusion or Deepening the Divide. Exploring Design Choices that Could Make a Difference, 2023.
■ International Working Group on Data Protection in Technology (Berlin Group): Working Paper on Central Bank Digital Currency – CBDC, 13 June 2024.
Bahamas / Sand Dollar
Video
■ Tagesschau: Die Bahamas nach Hurrikan Dorian (Youtube), 13 September 2019, (accessed 11 July 2024).
■ International Monetary Fund: The Bahamas: The World’s First Digital Currency, 1 March 2021.
■ Rolle, John (Governor, Central Bank of The Bahamas): Remarks about the Sand Dollar and the Digital Euro, Conference Towards a legislative framework for the digital Euro, 7 November 2022, Brussels, ca. 1pm.
■ Porter, Shaqueno (Central Bank of The Bahamas): An Update on the Sand Dollar (Youtube), Digital Euro Association Conference (DEC24), Frankfurt/Main, 29 February 2024.
Audio
Digital Euro Podcast, Episode 52: Sand Dollar Chief Architect Shares Insights into Bahama’s CBDC, Interview with U-Zyn Chua, August 2023.
Text
■ Central Bank of The Bahamas: Legal Framework -Online Documentation.
■ Central Bank of The Bahamas: Central Bank of The Bahamas Act, 2020.
■ Central Bank of The Bahamas: Bahamian Dollar Digital Currency Regulations, 2021.
■ Hall, Ian: CBDC-linked Prepaid Card Debuts as Bahamas Central Bank Consults on Regulation, Global Government Fintech, 23 February 2021.
■ Barathan, Vipin: Operationalizing the First CBDC – After Ist First Year Island Pay CEO Richard Douglas Shares his Experience, Forbes, 28 November 2021, Forbes.
■ Hall, Ian: Bahamas Central Bank shares CBDC Lessons from Sand Dollars‘ First Two Years, Global Government Fintech, 9. November 2022.
■ Haans, Jeroen / van der Linden, Martin Jeroen et al: Lessons from the first implemented CBDC: the Sand Dollar, Digital Euro Association Blog, 23 June 2023.
■ Branch, Sharon, Ward, Linsey and Wright, Allan: The Evolution of SandDollar, in: Intereconomics. Review of European Economic Policy,Vol. 58 (2023), No. 4, pp. 178 – 184.
■ Rees, Nicholas: Promoting Financial Inclusion in the Carribean. A Broken ATM in the Bahamas Reveals the Need for Digital Banking Solutions Across the Region, NextBillion, 21 May 2024.
■ Knobloch, Andreas: Bahamas will Banken zur Nutzung von digitalem Zentralbankgeld verpflichten, Heise online, 1 July 2024.
Nigeria / eNaira
Video
■ Al Jazeera English: Nigeria becomes first African nation to roll out digital currency (Youtube), 26 October 2021.
■ Fosudo, Fisayo: The problems with eNaira ( Youtube), 15 December 2021.
■ Coindesk: Nigeria Changing its eNaira Model to Promote Use of its CBDC (Youtube), 27 July 2023.
■ Digivation Network TV: e-Naira Policy – Are Nigerians using the E-Naira Wallet (Youtube), 20 February 2024.
■ Fosudo, Fisayo: Talking Tech with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken (Youtube), 30 January 2024.
Audio
■ Chainalysis‘ Public Key Podcast, Episode 37: Powering the Digital Asset Transformation in Nigeria and Beyond, Interview with Michael Adeyeri (CEO, Busha) und Moyo Sodipo (CPO, Busha), 4 January 2023.
Text
■ Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung: Politische Situation. Defizite bei Demokratie und Rechtsstaatlichkeit, accessed 4 August 2024.
■ Idris, Abubakar: Africa’s First e-Currency is off to a Shaky Start, Rest of World, 19 November 2021.
■ Ree, Jookyung: Nigeria’s eNaira – One year after, International Monetary Fund, 2022.
■ Lawal, Temitoyo: Nigeria’s Digital Currency Can’t Compete with Crypto, Rest of World, 17 May 2023.
■ Ozili, Peterson: Redesigning the eNaira Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for Payments and Macroeconomic effectiveness, MPRA Paper No. 118807, 2023.
Chainalysis: Cryptocurrency Penetrates Key Markets in Sub-Saharan Africa as an Inflation Mitigation and Trading Vehicle, Chainalysis Blog, 19 September 2023.
Dzirutwe, Macdonald: Nigeria plans additional rules to combat illegal trading in digital assets, Reuters, 7 May 2024.
Akintaro, Samson: Crypto P2P – CBN’s Policies Opened Doors for Manipulators, Nairametrics, 9 May 2024.
Omatubora, Adekemi: Same Naira, More Possibilities! Assessing the Legal Status of the eNaira and Its Potential for Privacy and Inclusion, Journal of African Law, Vol. 68, No. 2, June 2024, pp. 245-262.
Digital Euro
Deutsche Bundesbank: Stand der Dinge – Digitaler Euro accessed 4 august, 2024.
All Episodes of the Digitalgelddickicht»
