Nigerian national blockchain policy gets government approval

Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council has approved the national policy on blockchain to help the country develop a regulatory framework to govern the adoption of the technology.

The government of Nigeria — one of the world’s most curious nations about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) — has approved a national blockchain policy during its meeting on May 3, 2023. The approval was in response to a memo presented by Isa Ali Ibrahim, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

In the announcement, The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMCDE) cited a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) predicting the widespread adoption of blockchain technology across various industries could potentially contribute $1.76 trillion to the global gross domestic product by 2030, representing 1.4% of the world’s GDP.

The FMCDE developed the national blockchain policy through stakeholder consultations in both the public and private sectors. The policy was developed on behalf of the federal government of Nigeria, in line with the seventh pillar of the national digital economy policy and strategy, which focuses on digital society and emerging technologies.

A draft of the blockchain adoption strategy, released in October 2020, stated that blockchain and decentralized ledger technology would “facilitate the development of the Nigerian digital economy.”

The policy aims to establish a blockchain-based economy that facilitates secure transactions, data sharing and value exchange among individuals, businesses and the government. The implementation of the policy is expected to have a favorable impact on the public and private sectors in Nigeria.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) will be responsible for coordinating the policy initiatives under the supervision of the FMCDE. Additionally, a multisectoral steering committee has been established to oversee policy implementation.

The Federal Executive Council has instructed relevant regulatory bodies, such as NITDA, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the National Universities Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Nigerian Communications Commission to create regulatory frameworks for the implementation of blockchain technology in different sectors of the economy.

Related: Tokens but not crypto: Nigeria SEC prepares new digital asset rules

The strategy for blockchain adoption includes initiatives aimed at establishing a consortium for blockchain in Nigeria, strengthening the regulatory and legal framework, promoting digital identity, creating blockchain business incentive programs, fostering digital literacy and awareness of blockchain technology, and establishing a national blockchain sandbox for testing and piloting.

Despite this new policy, transactions using cryptocurrency remain illegal in the country.

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