Nigeria’s central bank is turning to the nation’s three-wheeler taxi operators to speed the adoption of the eNaira, as regulators across the world scrutinize its every move.

It’s offering a 5% discount to drivers and passengers of the motorized rickshaws -- known locally as Keke Napep -- who use the eNaira. It’s the latest attempt to kickstart the digital currency, which has so far attracted just one in 200 people in the continent’s most populous country.

“Why is it asking us to collect eNaira?” said 23-year-old driver Hamed Lawan. “I thought the government said cryptocurrency is bad?”

The results, so far, have been disappointing. While the eNaira uses similar distributed ledger technology as Bitcoin or Ethereum and can be saved in digital wallets, Nigerians’ passion for cryptocurrencies doesn’t extend to the central bank offering.

Nigeria’s central bank remains upbeat. After attracting almost 1 million people to its digital platform, it’s targeting 8 million users by next August.

All the eNaira needs is “a little push from the government,” said Kingsley Obiora, deputy governor in charge of economic policy at the central bank.

Millennials and Generation Z -- the main cryptocurrency users -- are suspicious of the central bank’s project.

“They see the regulator as hostile to them and therefore have no interest in anything it introduces,” Obrimah said.

Central Bank Deputy Governor Obiora echoes that sentiment, suggesting that if half of government salaries were paid in eNaira it could be a “game changer.”

“Did you say eNaira? I don’t even have a bank account, let alone an eNaira account,” said Adamu Alidu, another taxi driver in Abuja. “Me, I don’t know anything about it.”