The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) on Monday disclosed that it had opened discussions with crypto exchange, FX Binance, for the purposes of creating a virtual free zone for blockchain development in the country.
The authority’s Managing Director, Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, was quoted as confirming that already preliminary meetings with the cryptocurrency exchange team had been held to create the first virtual free zone in the West African sub-region.
Adesugba explained that the zone would be similar to the Dubai’s virtual free zone with regulations and incentives that will be suitable for crypto firms’ operations.
He said: “Our goal is to engender a flourishing virtual free zone to take advantage of a near trillion dollar virtual economy in blockchains and digital economy.”
Available statistics provided by Kucion reflected that with 33.4 million owning or trading crypto assets, Nigeria’s population is among the most receptive in Africa in terms of cryptocurrencies and blockchain adoption.
Nigerians’ enthusiasm in cryptocurrencies’ adoption remains high despite the February 2021 directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) banning banks from servicing crypto exchanges.
It would be recalled that as part of its efforts to create a well regulated digital payment system space in Nigeria, the CBN promised in October 2021 to launch the nation’s digital currency – eNaira – as a digital currency to facilitate domestic and cross-border trade transactions.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently stated that the eNaira was the second central bank digital currency (CBDC) ‘fully open to the public after the Bahamas,’
Analysts at Kucoin linked the sharp depreciation of the Naira by about 209% in the last six years to the growing popularity and adoption of cryptocurrency in the country, as well as the economic hardships of the pandemic.
The experts also reported that 52% of Nigerian crypto investors allocated over half of their assets to cryptocurrencies while 70% intend to increase their cryptocurrency investments over the next six months as over half of the population think crypto is a ‘reliable value-storage and payment means.’
In Africa, Kucoin research indicated that the number of users of cryptocurrency had risen by 2,467.2% between January 2021 and January 2022, and the average number of monthly transactions leaping by 1386.7%.
