According to Patrick Njoroge, the governor of the Kenyan central bank, the significant number of non-smartphones that are in use in Kenya due to high adoption of mobile phone banking means launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC) now, could lead to many citizens being financially excluded.
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According to the Business Daily report; The governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Patrick Njoroge, explained that the number of smartphone users in the country is not more than half of Kenya’s mobile phone users. This he warned will force delay in launching a CBDC.
Official data show that 33 million or 56 percent of the 59 million cellphone devices are feature phones, making it difficult for half of subscribers to transact using CBDC.
Read Also: Kenyan Central Bank Threatens To Withdraw Lisence Of Banks Engaging in Crypto.
“The CBDC will have a minimum viable technology requirement, which may be a sort of fourth-generation (4G) environment. There is an argument to be made that such a development could lead to greater financial exclusion such that some people may fall out of the financial system just because we have adopted a CBDC… This is something we need to be careful about,” said Dr Njoroge
The country’s apex bank last month invited public views on the potential introduction of the digital currency, in a departure from its original opposition to crypto assets. Kenyans have until May 20 to submit comments to the banking regulator.
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