West Africa is home to an estimated 381 million people and counting. Unfortunately, the region was also found to be a hotspot for climate change, which will likely impact crop yields and food production while causing damage to its unique wildlife. At the same time, West Africa is well on its way to becoming the next blockchain hotspot as well, with the region continuing to show interest in cryptocurrency and digital solutions. In 2019, Nigeria ranked as the number one country for Bitcoin searches on Google, which may be linked to the prominence of fintech adoption across the continent. For …

The director-general for Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency, or NITDA, has said that the country could potentially expect a revenue stream between $6 billion to 10 billion from blockchain technology in the next ten years. According to a Nov. 5 announcement from the NITDA, Director-General Kashifu Inuwa spoke at a stakeholders meeting in the Nigerian capital of Abuja to review the agency’s National Blockchain Adoption Strategy Framework. A draft of the strategy was first released in October and stated that blockchain and decentralized ledger technology (DLT) would “facilitate the development of the Nigerian digital economy.” “We want Nigeria to …

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange is launching a new affiliate program in Africa after announcing the termination of its Uganda-based service. On Nov. 3, Binance officially announced the launch of the Binance Africa Affiliate Program, which aims to promote Binance across the continent. According to the exchange, the new program is open to influencers, crypto enthusiasts and content creators across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. A spokesperson for Binance told Cointelegraph that Binance’s services in Africa include a fiat on-ramp for users from Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. The exchange also provides peer-to-peer services for users from Kenya. …

A report published by Arcane Research has revealed that nearly half of Paxful’s trade volume comes from trade between Bitcoin (BTC) and gift cards. The report found that, “purchasing Bitcoin with gift cards has been the preferred solution on Paxful each month throughout the five-year span analyzed,” and in June accounted for 48% of Paxful’s volume. Paxful processes nearly $40 million in weekly trade, which means up to $20M of BTC is exchanged for gift cards every week. Arcane highlighted the last week of June this year in the report, in which $16.2M BTC was sold for gift cards. Arcane …

Sub-Saharan Africa has no doubt suffered many regulatory setbacks in adopting cryptocurrencies. With most countries in the region struggling not to buckle under economic uncertainties and pressures looming over them even as the ripple effects of COVID-19 set in, it would appear that many Africans, especially millennials, aren’t waiting for the government anymore. The main issue inhibiting regulation seems to be a combination of resistance and indecision both from regulators, which has majorly been a result of little or no understanding of cryptocurrencies. Speaking to Cointelegraph on the attitude of regulatory bodies in Africa toward cryptocurrencies, Andrew Nevin, partner and …

Africa is the home to 1.2 billion people and what has been described as the world’s largest trade area — the African Continental Free Trade Area. Africa is forging a new path to driving development, and access to financial services will play a significant role in its economic growth. The need to provide improved systems for poverty reduction, if not alleviation, is further accentuated when one considers that 416 million Africans live in extreme poverty, and access to financial services is right at the heart of the solution. In a review of the impact of financial inclusion on economic growth, …

YENTS, an unusual stablecoin developed by the Kenya’s Young Entrepreneurs Network (YEN), has entered into testing under the local regulatory sandbox. YEN, which organizes golfing tournaments to facilitate networking opportunities for Kenyan entrepreneurs, plans on initially using the stablecoin as a means of payment for sporting events and training programs. The network’s CEO, Kamau Nyabwengi, told The Africa Report that YEN intends to launch the token in November, and hopes to use it to accept investments into a planned golf course. While the YENTS token has began testing in Kenya’s regulatory sandbox, Nyabwengi argues that significant regulatory changes still need …

2020 has seen an acceleration in African crypto adoption, with the continent emerging as the second-largest region for peer-to-peer (P2P) trading, and two African nations ranking in the top eight of the Chainalysis crypto adoption index. However, the booming growth has caught the attention of Africa’s financial regulators, sparking concerns that a rush to introduce heavy-handed oversight could quell innovation in the local crypto industry. Nigeria has led the continent’s growth in 2020, posting weekly P2P volumes of between $5 million to $10 million, followed by Kenya and South Africa with between $1 million and $2 million a week each. …

Peer-to-peer cryptocurrency marketplace Paxful announced Sept. 17 that it had broken ground on a new school in Nigeria. This is the fourth school of 100 planned as part of its #BuiltWithBitcoin initiative to bring quality education to emerging countries. The school, located in the Ankara Nandu community of Sanga Local, will serve an estimated 100–120 children between the ages of three and six years old, and double as an adult education center in the evenings. The city is home to 4,000 people, and currently has just one school providing both primary and secondary education. Paxful CEO and co-founder Ray Youssef …

Blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis has found that crypto traders in Africa are less likely to have sent tokens to, or received tokens from, known scam addresses than traders in other regions in the past year. In the Chainalysis “2020 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report”, the firm states that the percentage of illicit cryptocurrency activity associated with scams isn’t as high in Africa as other regions around the world. Illicit cryptocurrency activity accounted for just 2% of the region’s roughly $16 billion trading volume from July 2019 to June 2020. Scams accounted for 55% of this low level of illicit activity. “People …

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria has officially defined digital assets under its regulatory umbrella. In a Sept. 14 statement, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, defined tokens and coins in the country’s financial markets. The commission stated that these digital assets, which provide “alternative investment opportunities”, would be classified into four different categories for regulatory oversight. “Virtual crypto assets are securities, unless proven otherwise,” said the SEC. “The burden of proving that the crypto assets proposed to be offered are not securities and therefore not under the jurisdiction of the SEC, is placed on the issuer …

Africans are increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies as a means of exchange over local fiat currencies, according to a new report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. Data from the firm shows that many locals individuals and businesses are using cryptocurrencies to avoid high fees, regulatory complications, and currency instability. The number of monthly transfers to and from Africa has passed the 600,000 mark. The total number of transfers under $10,000 jumped by 55% in the year to June to reach $316 million. Nigeria, which is the continent’s largest economy, South Africa, and Kenya lead the region in cryptocurrency transfers. Abolaji Odunjo, …