President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime has teamed with Talent City and renowned cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance to create the first virtual free trade zones for service exports in West Africa.

The partnership with the foremost crypto exchange platform is despite Nigeria’s continued prohibition on cryptocurrency trading.

The Central Bank of Nigeria in February 2021 ordered financial institutions to close all accounts used in trading cryptocurrencies and other related transactions against Nigerians’ growing interest in cryptocurrency.

Justifying its decision to prohibit Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transactions, the CBN said it was an unregulated market and could not be allowed as a legitimate source of exchange in Nigeria.

However, the authority stated in a statement signed by Martins Odey, spokesman for the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, seen by Peoples Gazette on Wednesday, that the partnership would give birth to a virtual free zone focused on expanding the frontiers of innovation in the operations and management of free zones in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

NEPZA reached a partnership agreement after meeting with representatives of the two companies in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Free zones are commercial hubs for the exchange of products and services. They are also referred to as free trade zones or free zone authorities. The FTZs offer zero per cent tax rates, preferential customs duty rates, and complete exemption from import and export taxes, all of which enhance global trade.

Speaking on the development, Adesoji Adesugba, NEPZA managing director, said the partnership would widen economic opportunities for Nigerians.

“We seek to break new grounds to widen economic opportunities for our citizens in line with the mandate of the authority, the directive of the honourable minister, and the economic development agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari,” Mr Adesugba explained. 

The NEPZA boss added, “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.”

In 2021, Binance was named the world’s most popular crypto exchange platform after recording 170 million visitors in October alone. Finbold, a London-based analytics firm, noted in a report that the exchange platform retained visitors in high volume despite setbacks witnessed by Binance due to regulatory bodies.