By Nathan Ferguson
A board in the Bank of Central African States (also known as Banque des Estas de l’Afrique) has reportedly urged the concerned countries to consider releasing a CBDC – Central Bank Digital Currency. Among the countries concerned are the Republic of Congo, Chad, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.
According to the report received by Bloomberg on Friday, the board has sent an email to the banks in the region calling them to consider introducing a digital currency to their name which will further cement their effort to create a modern structure for payments and also to promote financial inclusion in the region. In April, the CAR – Central African Republic passed a bill to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in the country. However, the country has not yet recognized CBDC or Central Bank Digital Currency.
Africa Countries and Central Bank Digital Currency
In October 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) became the first bank in the region to launch its digital currency called eNaira, while the Reserve Bank of South Africa is currently exploring the possibility of launching its own CBDC through an initiative called Project Khokha. The Bank of Central African States has faulted CAR’s move to adopt Bitcoin as a legal currency and has named it a problematic move that could potentially have a negative impact on the monetary union and policies of Central Africa.
It was said that nations in Sub-Saharan Africa could be challenged with introducing crypto and their CBDCs to places without substantial access to electricity, both for mining and transfers. Data from the World Bank in 2020 revealed that both Chad and the Central African Republic are ranked as countries having the lowest percentage of the population with access to power supply, at 11.1% and 15.5% respectively.
Fast-rising Crypto Markets in Africa
After the country adopted BTC as a legal tender in June, the president of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadera said the country will be embarking on a crypto initiative named the ‘Sango project’ which will include a crypto hub and a custom economic zone in the metaverse. According to a report published in March by Cointelegraph, Africa is still one of the continents in the world with increasing crypto markets. In the report, it was mentioned that crypto transactions in Dakar, Senegal, and Cote d’Ivoire had increased by about 2,670% on a yearly comparison.