Initial Negotiations for Crypto-Friendly Zone in Nigeria

In Africa, the number of people who accept cryptocurrencies has grown over the last few years, even though the continent doesn’t have a good financial infrastructure and has inflation and uncertain government policies. In a recent survey done by CoinGecko, Nigerians were found to be the most interested in cryptocurrencies. Residents of Nigeria searched for the phrases “cryptocurrency” and “buy crypto” more than residents of any of the other 14 nations that were studied.

Also, in October 2021, Nigeria introduced eNaira, which was the country’s first digital currency issued by the central bank. This project is meant to help people in Nigeria who don’t have bank accounts by getting them to sign up.

Meeting in Nigeria

The Nigerian government and the cryptocurrency exchange Binance met for the first time to talk about the possibility of setting up a special economic zone in Nigeria that would help blockchain technology and cryptocurrency companies. The authorities are said to have had preliminary talks with the cryptocurrency exchange Binance and the tech company Talent City about the proposed digital city, which is also called a “Virtual Free Zone”.

Adesoji Adesugba, who is the managing director of NEPZA, says that the proposed zone will be the first of its kind in West Africa and will work like the virtual zones in Dubai. These zones are meant to have laws and regulations that are friendly to cryptocurrencies, as well as tax incentives for businesses that deal with them.

Triple A says that Nigeria has one of the highest rates of people using cryptocurrencies and that more than 22 million people in the country own cryptocurrencies.

Adesugba said that the zone would help Nigeria’s digital economy grow and give more Nigerians the chance to get jobs. He added that the move was part of Nigeria’s plan to grow its economy and that the goal was to increase the use of crypto in the West African region. According to him, the change would happen right away.