# eNaira QR
> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/enaira-qr
> research date 2026-06-04 · extracted at 2026-10-07
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards
Specifications:
- [eNaira — Central Bank of Nigeria](https://www.cbn.gov.ng/currency/eNaira.html)
- [Framework for Quick Response (QR) Code Payments in Nigeria — CBN](https://www.cbn.gov.ng/Out/2021/CCD/FRAMEWORK%20FOR%20QUICK%20RESPONSE%20(QR)%20CODE%20PAYMENTS%20IN%20NIGERIA.pdf)
## Overview
**eNaira** is the **central bank digital currency (CBDC) of Nigeria**, issued and regulated by the **Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)** as **legal tender** denominated in the naira [1][1], [2][2]. Launched **25 October 2021**, it was the **first CBDC fully launched on the African continent** [1][1]. The system was built by **Bitt Inc.** on a **private, permissioned Hyperledger Fabric blockchain** under CBN control, and is accessed through the **Speed Wallet** app plus a USSD short code for feature phones [2][2], [3][3].
eNaira's **QR mechanism for merchant acceptance** rides on Nigeria's national QR framework: the CBN's **Framework for QR Code Payments in Nigeria (January 2021)** mandates that **all QR-code payments in Nigeria be EMV® QR Code compliant** [4][4]. That base standard is the same one used by the bank-rail **NQR** scheme operated by **NIBSS** (launched March 2021), so eNaira merchant QR codes sit on the country's established [EMVCo MPM](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/emvco-mpm) foundation rather than a bespoke CBDC format [4][4], [5][5].
## History
**January 2021 — CBN QR framework** [4][4]: the CBN released its *Framework for Quick Response (QR) Code Payments in Nigeria*, mandating EMV® QR Code compliance and defining interoperability roles for QR schemes — the regulatory base the eNaira would later use.
**March 16, 2021 — NQR launched** [5][5]: NIBSS (Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System) launched the **Nigeria Quick Response (NQR)** code for instant P2P and P2B payments, EMV-compliant and zero onboarding cost to merchants.
**October 25, 2021 — eNaira launched** [1][1], [3][3]: President **Muhammadu Buhari** officially launched the eNaira and **Speed Wallet** under the slogan *"Same Naira, More Possibilities,"* making Nigeria the first African nation to fully deploy a CBDC.
**November 2021 — USSD access** [3][3]: roughly a month after launch, the government enabled eNaira access via **USSD** (short code **\*997#**), so users on basic feature phones — central to reaching Nigeria's tens of millions of unbanked adults — could transact without the app.
**December 2022 – February 2023 — Cash redesign and scarcity** [6][6], [7][7]: the CBN's redesign of the ₦200/₦500/₦1,000 notes triggered a severe physical-cash crunch. Currency in circulation fell from **₦3.28 trillion (Dec 2022) to ~₦982 billion (Feb 2023)**, sharply driving eNaira uptake.
**July 2023 — NFC and programmability upgrade** [8][8]: the CBN announced eNaira would support **NFC contactless payments** (comparable to Apple/Google Pay) and **programmability** features allowing restricted, purpose-bound payments such as farmer-loan disbursements.
## Technical specification
eNaira is built on a **two-tier model**: the CBN issues eNaira and financial institutions distribute it to end users via the Speed Wallet ecosystem, on a **permissioned Hyperledger Fabric** ledger operated by Bitt Inc. for the CBN [2][2], [3][3]. Wallets are **tiered by KYC** — a basic wallet can be created **with just a phone number**, no bank account required, explicitly to reach the unbanked [3][3].
**QR mechanism** [4][4], [5][5]:
- Nigeria's QR framework mandates that **all QR code payments be EMV® QR Code Specification compliant** — the [EMVCo MPM](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/emvco-mpm) base — so eNaira merchant codes use the same symbology and TLV structure as the broader Nigerian QR ecosystem [4][4].
- The framework supports both **merchant-presented mode (MPM)** and **consumer-presented mode (CPM)**; the merchant-presented static/dynamic code is the dominant retail pattern [4][4].
- The bank-rail counterpart, **NQR** (NIBSS), implements the same EMV base for **scan-to-pay P2P and P2B** across participating banks at zero merchant onboarding cost [5][5].
**Access channels** [3][3]:
- **Speed Wallet** app (Android/iOS) — full functionality including QR scan/display.
- **USSD \*997#** — feature-phone access for balance, transfers, and payments.
- **NFC contactless** — added July 2023 for tap-to-pay [8][8].
**Underlying symbology**: Standard [QR Code](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/qr-code) (ISO/IEC 18004) carrying an [EMVCo MPM](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/emvco-mpm)-compliant payload, per the CBN framework [4][4].
## Use cases
- **Retail merchant payments** — scan-to-pay at merchants via EMV-compliant QR / NQR, with zero merchant onboarding cost [4][4], [5][5].
- **P2P transfers** — phone-number-keyed transfers, including via USSD for feature phones [3][3].
- **Financial inclusion** — wallets openable with only a phone number target Nigeria's large unbanked population [3][3].
- **Government disbursements / programmable aid** — the 2023 programmability upgrade enables purpose-restricted payments such as **farmer loans** and social transfers [8][8].
- **Cash substitute during shortages** — eNaira saw its strongest organic usage during the 2023 cash crunch [6][6], [7][7].
## Implementations
- **Speed Wallet** — the official CBN/Bitt consumer and merchant app [3][3].
- **Bitt Inc.** — vendor that built the eNaira platform on Hyperledger Fabric for the CBN [3][3].
- **NQR (NIBSS)** — the interbank EMV-compliant QR rail that participating Nigerian banks use; the same EMV base underpins eNaira merchant QR [5][5].
- **USSD \*997#** gateway — feature-phone access channel [3][3].
- **Commercial banks** — distribute eNaira wallets under the two-tier model and integrate QR acceptance [2][2], [4][4].
## Comparison
**vs. NQR / Nigeria's bank-rail QR** — Both eNaira QR and NQR sit on the **same CBN-mandated EMV® QR base** [4][4], [5][5]. The difference is the settlement asset: NQR moves **commercial-bank deposit money** between accounts, while eNaira QR moves **central-bank money (the CBDC)**. For a merchant the acceptance experience is similar; for the system the liability differs.
**vs. [e-CNY QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/e-cny-qr) (China) and [Digital Rupee QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/digital-rupee-qr) (India)** — All three are retail CBDCs whose QR layers reuse the country's *existing* QR ecosystem (e-CNY via Alipay/WeChat aggregate QR, e₹-R via UPI QR, eNaira via the EMV/NQR framework) rather than inventing a new code. Among them eNaira was **first to market (Oct 2021)** and the **first African CBDC**, but has had the **weakest sustained adoption** [1][1], [6][6].
**vs. global CBDC peers** — Nigeria is frequently cited as the cautionary case: despite first-mover status, adoption stalled on infrastructure, power reliability, and trust constraints [1][1].
## Fun facts
eNaira's biggest adoption boost came not from the technology but from a **cash crisis the central bank itself created**: during the 2023 naira redesign, the number of eNaira wallets jumped **more than 12-fold (Oct 2022 → ~13 million by March 2023)** and transaction value rose **~63% to ₦22 billion**, as physical cash vanished from circulation [6][6], [7][7].
Yet the surge masked near-total dormancy: the **IMF reported in May 2023 that ~98.5% of eNaira wallets had never been used**, and only ~1.5% completed the typical weekly transaction pattern — one of the most-cited examples of a CBDC with high issuance but minimal real use [7][7].
eNaira was deliberately accessible by **USSD (\*997#)** on basic phones, recognising that financial inclusion in Nigeria depends on feature-phone users without smartphones or reliable data [3][3].
## Status
**Live but low-adoption; first African CBDC.** Key metrics [1][1], [6][6], [7][7]:
- **Launched 25 October 2021**; first fully launched CBDC in Africa [1][1].
- Within a year of launch, **fewer than 0.5% of Nigerians** were using it [1][1].
- Cash-crunch surge (early 2023): wallets up **12x to ~13 million**, transaction value up **~63% to ₦22 billion** [6][6].
- **IMF (May 2023): ~98.5% of wallets never used** [7][7]; as of 2024, most wallets reportedly remain inactive [1][1].
- **2023 upgrades**: NFC contactless and programmability added to drive use [8][8].
The eNaira QR is **live and built on Nigeria's EMV-compliant national QR framework**, but the scheme's defining story remains the gap between issuance and sustained usage [1][1], [7][7].
## Sources
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENaira
[2]: https://www.cbn.gov.ng/currency/eNaira.html
[3]: https://techpoint.africa/2021/08/03/experts-enaira-cbdc/
[4]: https://www.cbn.gov.ng/Out/2021/CCD/FRAMEWORK%20FOR%20QUICK%20RESPONSE%20(QR)%20CODE%20PAYMENTS%20IN%20NIGERIA.pdf
[5]: https://nibss-plc.com.ng/nqr/
[6]: https://247wallst.com/investing/2023/03/22/number-of-cbdc-wallets-up-12x-over-6-months-in-nigeria-amid-cash-deficit/
[7]: https://technext24.com/2023/05/22/imf-says-98-of-enaira-wallets-unused/
[8]: https://www.ledgerinsights.com/enaira-cbdc-nfc-programmability/
1. [eNaira — Wikipedia][1]
2. [eNaira — Central Bank of Nigeria][2]
3. [How Nigeria's eNaira will work — Techpoint Africa, 2021][3]
4. [Framework for Quick Response (QR) Code Payments in Nigeria — Central Bank of Nigeria, 2021][4]
5. [NQR — NIBSS][5]
6. [Number of CBDC Wallets Up 12x Over 6 Months in Nigeria — 24/7 Wall St., 2023][6]
7. [IMF says 98.5% of eNaira wallets unused — Technext, 2023][7]
8. [Central Bank of Nigeria to add NFC, programmability to eNaira — Ledger Insights, 2023][8]
## Deployments
_No country reports mention this standard by name._