Mobile money has been a strong competitor to central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Africa, but many of the continent’s central bankers have greater faith CBDC, according to a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report published Nov. 24. African central bankers also saw greater utility in CBDC for implementing monetary policy than bankers in other parts of the world, according to the BIS.

Nineteen African central banks responded to the survey that served as a basis for the report, and all of them stated that they were actively interested in CBDC. Only Nigeria has issued a retail CBDC, the eNaira, meant for public use, while Ghana has a retail CBDC project in the pilot stage, and South Africa is currently running a project for a wholesale CBDC, meant for institutional use.