The Central African Republic (BANGUI) has become the first African country to adopt bitcoin as an official currency alongside their West African CFA franc.
On the 27th of April, The Parliament of the Central African Republic (CAR) voted unanimously to sign the bill to recognize Bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency as a national legal tender.
The bill was proposed by Calixte Nganongo, former Minister of finance and budget, and Gourna Zacko, CAR’s Minister of Digital Economy.
Despite its rich reserves of diamonds and gold, the Central African Republic is one of the poorest and least-developed countries in the world and has been threatened by rebel violence for years.
In 2020, only about 48% of its population had access to mobile connections, while less than 2.8% were connected to social media, transacting with cryptocurrencies requires both smartphone and internet connections, and CAR is rated to have the fifth-lowest internet penetration rate in Africa.
According to Obed Namsio, chief of staff of President Faustin-Archange Touadera, “The president supports this bill because it will improve the conditions of Central African citizens,” “a decisive step toward opening up new opportunities for our country.”
Although bitcoin has gained global popularity and usage in the past decade, with a global adoption rising by 2300% since 2019 and 103 countries allowing crypto trading, governments worldwide are still debating its safety.
About nine countries, including China and Qatar, have entirely banned crypto, while 42 others have imposed some forms of prohibition.
African countries like Nigeria are leaning towards other forms of digital currencies, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) like the eNaira, which are digital representations of fiat currencies and, unlike crypto, can be regulated by their central banks.
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Image Source – Luv Murrell
