Blockchain Experts From Nigeria Feel That African Economy Can Benefit From Crypto Adoption

By Rishma Banerjee

At the recent Luno Meet in Nigeria titled “Building Trust in the Nigerian Cryptocurrency Market,” many crypto experts of the country discussed how the economy would benefit by leaps and bounds, not only for the country but also for the continent at large. While the adoption and awareness about cryptocurrencies are on the rise, regulatory measures have also increased in number. Most experts are of the opinion that with proper regulation and guidance, cryptocurrency in Africa will be able to revolutionize their economy.

Lucky Uwakwe, the Chief Operating Officer of Blockchain Solutions Limited, informed his audience about the 65% of people are now aware of crypto. Uwakwe also cited research from Luno Nigeria to say that 25% of people in the study now own crypto in some form. He also mentioned that 51% saw crypto as an investment, 16% used crypto for online shopping and that 19% of people in the study used crypto for remittance.

Although the study and the stats seem a bit unnatural, the overriding issue that Uwakwe was trying make is that in order for Nigeria to be able to keep up with the world, it will have to involve itself with crypto. When addressing the audience, Uwakwe said:

Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency to use peer to peer technology; It is a simpler implementation of blockchain technology; Functions as a payment tool that can be used to send money, and carries value as an investment tool.

Owenize Odia, country manager, and Nigerian blockchain expert, who also spoke at the Luno event elaborated on how the issue fo regulation was of utmost importance in order build and consolidate trust in the Nigerian crypto sectors, and thus by extension the African crypto sphere. He said:

Regulation is key but should be county specific, since it can bring about credibility to market, even though banks try to distant their operations from cryptocurrency.

Odia also spoke about several other issues regarding the adoption of crypto as well as how the Nigerian economy, while meeting the needs of the people could benefit from the decentralized and universal nature of crypto. Though it cannot be confirmed, it seems only a matter of time before regulatory measures are imposed on Nigerian crypto markets for better or worse.