Patrick Njoroge, President of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), stated that his institution is currently exploring the use of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to settle cross-border payments. However, Njoroge insists that the bank’s first task is to handle it correctly, not to be the first.

CBK method

According to a report On Wall Street in Kenya, Njoroge-who made these remarks during a virtual Asian-African Fintech Festival-believes that such a CBDC will improve the efficiency of cross-border payments. Nevertheless, the report quoted Njoroge as saying that it reiterated CBK’s approach, which is different from the practices of other central banks. He said:

The benefits we see will be even more cross-border. The problem is not to do it first, the problem is to do it right.

The President of CBK made these remarks a few weeks after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) became the first country in Africa to launch a CBDC. About three weeks after launch, CBN Report Nearly 500,000 wallets have been downloaded and electronic naira transactions worth $150,000 have been recorded.

Collaborate and act alone

As Bitcoin.com news ReportHowever, e-naira continued to encounter challenges before and after its launch, which eventually resulted in the wallet app being temporarily removed from the Google Play store.In addition, some observers in Nigeria continued to condemn CBN decided to praise CBDC (linked to the physical naira) while cracking down on cryptocurrency users.

Although the Kenya Wall Street report did not quote Njoroge’s mention of CBN’s e-naira launch, the same report indicated that the CBK president prefers to cooperate with other central banks instead of acting alone.

Do you agree that Njoroge’s approach is correct rather than being the first? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

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