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Nigeria Picks Bola Tinubu as President Amid Cash Shortages
Tinubu will replace Muhammadu Buhari, whose government issued the eNaira and banned banks from interacting with crypto firms.
Bola Tinubu has won Nigeria’s disputed presidential election as the country continues to battle crippling cash shortages and high inflation left by outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari’s term was plagued with nationwide riots to protest police brutality, rising inflation and in recent months, protests over cash shortages resulting from the complications of a plan to swap old banknotes for new ones. Buhari couldn't run again because of a two-term limit.
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Opposition parties in the country have disputed Saturday's vote, which made Tinubu, who's from the same political party as Buhari, the leader of the West African nation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, under Buhari’s administration, issued a digital naira in October 2021 to encourage electronic payments and rival private cryptocurrencies. Nigeria’s tech-savvy, young population made the nation one of the fastest crypto adopters in the world, despite attempts by the government to put a damper on use.
Uptake in the eNaira use has been slow, however, and even with the cash shortages, people haven't been turning to the digital currency, partly because so few merchants accept it as payment. Still, as the value of the naira continues to fall, demand for the U.S. dollar may have risen, as indicated by the black market exchange rates for the currency in Nigeria.
Under the Buhari administration, the central bank also prohibited local banks from offering services to crypto companies.
It’s unclear what the newcomer’s position on crypto is, but he plans to boost the country’s private sector to uplift an economy struggling with 21.8% inflation and fuel and cash shortages.
Read more: Why Nigerians Aren't Turning to the eNaira Despite Crippling Cash Shortages
Sandali Handagama
Sandali Handagama is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for policy and regulations, EMEA. She is an alumna of Columbia University's graduate school of journalism and has contributed to a variety of publications including The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Nation and Popular Science. Sandali doesn't own any crypto and she tweets as @iamsandali
Camomile Shumba
Camomile Shumba is a CoinDesk regulatory reporter based in the UK. Previously, Shumba interned at Business Insider and Bloomberg. Camomile has featured in Harpers Bazaar, Red, the BBC, Black Ballad, Journalism.co.uk, Cryptopolitan.com and South West Londoner.
Shumba studied politics, philosophy and economics as a combined degree at the University of East Anglia before doing a postgraduate degree in multimedia journalism. While she did her undergraduate degree she had an award-winning radio show on making a difference. She does not currently hold value in any digital currencies or projects.
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Crypto Industry Asks President Trump to Stop JPMorgan’s 'Punitive Tax' on Data Access
A coalition of fintech and crypto trade groups is urging the White House to defend open banking and stop JPMorgan from charging fees to access customer data.
What to know:
- Ten major fintech and crypto trade associations have urged President Trump to stop big banks from imposing fees that could hinder innovation and competition.
- JPMorgan's plan to charge for access to consumer banking data may debank millions and threaten the adoption of stablecoins and self-custody wallets.
- The CFPB's open banking rule, which mandates free consumer access to bank data, is under threat as banks have sued to block it, and the CFPB has requested its vacatur.
