- The Central African Republic is developing a legal framework that will enable the economic use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
- The finance minister stated that they will not emulate El Salvadoran legislation that made bitcoin legal tender.
- Infrastructure development will be required to achieve widespread economic use of cryptocurrencies.
According to a report by the Central African Republic has started creating a legal framework that will openly allow the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in the economy Bloomberg.
Finance Minister Herve Ndoba reportedly said lawmakers had accepted proposals including creating a regulator to maintain oversight of cryptocurrencies. Ndoba further explained during a phone interview from Washington DC that the focus of the legislation is to integrate the use of cryptocurrencies into the economy
“There’s a common narrative that sub-Saharan African countries are often a step behind when it comes to adapting to new technologies,” Ndoba said. “This time we can actually say that our country is one step ahead.”
Ndoba reportedly noted that the proposed legislation does not reflect El Salvador’s proposals, which allowed the nation-state to be the first to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.
The report explains that the Central African Republic has gold and diamond reserves but still remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The country’s 2020 presidential election was preceded by years of violent conflict and political crises, which resulted in severe economic repercussions that soured relations with international partners and ultimately caused delays in receiving vital aid.
As the legal framework for the economic use of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin develops, the Central African Republic is also likely to drive the development of internet infrastructure. Internet penetration in the Central African Republic is reportedly only 11.4% of the population.
This statistic represents just over 557,000 internet users and a total population of 4.87 million. However, at the time of reporting, over 30.7% of the population had mobile connections available, although many people have more than one mobile connection, skewing the statistics.
