Following in the footsteps of peers South Africa and Ghana, Rwanda is developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The CBDC is a digital version of its local currency, the Rwandan Franc, issued by its central bank, the National Bank of Rwanda (NBR). A closed-group pilot will run till October, and the launch date of the CBDC announced afterward.
State of play: Nigeria was the first African country to launch a CBDC in 2021. However, that project never caught on; adoption was slow, and there was a fundamental lack of mass education around what the eNaira was created to do.
Rwanda is betting the digital version of its money will attract foreign financial institutions and banks to hold and store reserves, driving availability and adoption from the top down.
Here’s why CBDC is important to Rwanda: The East African country highlighted four main reasons for launching a CBDC, two of which include cross-border payments and a cashless economy.
However, Rwanda still needs to worry about public adoption. People already trust mobile money and cash for their daily transactions. Showing them how to use unfamiliar digital versions of their money requires education, trust, and clear incentives.
Yes, a state-backed system offers stability, but unless it’s easy to access, works offline, and blends into platforms people already use, it risks becoming a shiny tool few actually use.
