Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are among the institutions to lead the implementation of the national blockchain policy for Nigeria.  

The three leading financial institutions were among over 50 other institutions and personalities that have been directed to develop the regulatory instruments within their sectors to facilitate the implementation of the policy.

The institutions have been constituted into the steering committee to implement the policy which requires a collaboration between the private and public sectors.

In the policy statement on the adoption of the financial service, the federal government is expected to establish a regulatory framework that enables the integration of blockchain technology into the financial system while ensuring the protection of consumers and the stability of the financial system.

On Wednesday, the federal government approved the implementation of the National blockchain policy.

Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, revealed that the approval was a significant move and a step towards Nigeria’s digital transformation.

Mr Pantami said that the policy would institutionalise blockchain technology in the country, stressing that it would also be adopted in various sectors such as the banking, security, education and commerce industries.

“A national steering council would be established to coordinate the efforts of relevant government institutions towards the implementation of the policy,” he said shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja.

According to him, Nigeria has now joined countries such as the UK, Denmark, Switzerland, Estonia, Georgia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates in legalising and approving blockchain technology.

He added that blockchain technology would also help to ensure data integrity and could add up to $1.76 trillion to the global GDP by 2030.

Recall that the Buhari regime on February 5, 2021, placed a ban on the use of cryptocurrency through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Nigeria’s apex bank also directed banks to close accounts of persons and entities involved in cryptocurrency transactions within their systems.

CBN had claimed then that digital currencies such as bitcoin, litecoin, and others are largely used in terrorism financing and money laundering, considering the anonymity of virtual transactions.

“Cryptocurrency is used to describe the activities of traders in an electronic dark world where transactions are extremely opaque, not visible and not transparent. These are people who deal in transactions that do not want to be trailed,” Mr Emefiele had told the members of the National Assembly when he was invited to clear the air on the ban.

Meanwhile, the 2022 report of The African Blockchain revealed that the growth of blockchain and cryptocurrency technology in the continent saw African blockchain startups raise $474 million.

The report explained that Nigeria was the leading country in terms of the number of blockchain startups funded, followed by South Africa, Seychelles, and Kenya.

It explained that, although Nigeria had the most deals within the continent during 2022, it only amounted to a 3.4 per cent share of all African blockchain venture funding with an average deal size of $1.25m.

“Blockchain venture funding to Nigeria was $15.99m. It was $208.04m in Seychelles; $176.65m in South Africa; $37.50m in Liberia; $25.79m in Kenya; $8m in Cameroon; and $2m in Ghana,” the report published by blockchain venture capital company CV VC AG in collaboration with Standard Bank, revealed.