A New Horizon for Blockchain in Nigeria?

Nigeria's new government is paving the way for a blockchain revolution in Africa's biggest economy! Read on to learn more...

Creditcoin founder and Gluwa CEO, Tae Oh, spent the last week in Nigeria after receiving an invitation to the inauguration of the new Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu. As we celebrate this exciting moment together, it is important to highlight the exciting potential of the government's new policy approach to blockchain. Indeed, by embracing new digital technologies, Nigeria can help unlock growth, stability and innovation in Africa's largest economy.

You see, Nigeria is gearing up to undergo a true blockchain economic revolution. With the Nigerian government showing strong support for blockchain technology, Africa's largest economy is aiming to become a regional hub for Web3 development and harness the technology for dozens of industries including finance, healthcare and supply chains.

Having recently adopted a new national blockchain policy, the recent election of Bola Tinubu and his All Progressives Congress party (APC) is ushering in a new era for blockchain policy in Nigeria, which had, until recently, been one of the most hawkish countries regarding blockchain-enabled technologies, most notably cryptocurrencies.

The new government is keen not to throw the blockchain out with the bathwater and is looking to harness the technology to improve growth, financial inclusion, reduce corruption and stake a claim to one of the world's fastest-growing emerging industries, with an estimated future value of $1.4 trillion by 2030.

“Blockchain, because of its security and accountability features, has the inherent potential to make daily interactions easier, faster and more convenient, as well as to create more opportunities to add exciting new jobs and support greater financial inclusion.” - APC Manifesto

As Africa's biggest economy, with an incredibly large, young and tech-savvy population (over 60% of the population is under the age of 25), Nigeria is well-positioned to reap the benefits of blockchain adoption. Indeed, despite having incredibly high mobile phone penetration, with over 170 million users across Nigeria, some 55% of the population remains unbanked.

This young population is increasingly tech-savvy and is eager to adopt new technologies, with smartphone adoption expected to grow from around 20% to 60% in 2025, this will only serve to further accelerate blockchain adoption in a country where more than 1/3rd of adults have already used cryptocurrency.

The benefits of blockchain technology for Nigeria are numerous. Blockchain can help to improve the efficiency and transparency of financial services, reduce fraud and corruption, and create highly-skilled jobs for tens of thousands of people. Blockchain can also help to boost the Nigerian economy by attracting foreign investment and promoting innovation.

The Benefits of Blockchain Technology for Nigeria

Blockchain technology has the potential to provide a number of benefits for Nigeria, including:

Increased financial inclusion: Blockchain technology could help to increase financial inclusion in Nigeria by making it easier for people to access financial services. This could be done by providing a secure and transparent way for people to store and transfer money, and by making it easier for people to access services such as investments, credit and more.
Reduced corruption: Blockchain technology could help to reduce corruption in Nigeria by making it more difficult to track and hide corrupt activities. This could be done by providing a transparent and tamper-proof record of transactions.
Improved efficiency of government services: Blockchain technology could help to improve the efficiency of government services in Nigeria by making it easier for people to access and interact with government services. This could be done by providing a secure and efficient way for people to submit applications, pay taxes, and access other government services.
Boost Economic Growth: Blockchain is set to revolutionise dozens of global industries. By creating a favourable regulatory environment, the Nigerian government can become a regional hub for blockchain development, attracting global investment and encouraging the development of a strong technology sector which is likely to boost national growth and create new jobs.

The Creditcoin Network is already improving financial inclusion for millions of unbanked Nigerians. By providing a simple way to build transparent on-chain credit history and access global crypto liquidity pools, the Creditcoin Network is connecting businesses, lenders and end-borrowers to the credit they need to achieve their economic objectives.

The Creditcoin Foundation is confident that by working with the Nigerian Government we can help empower the Nigerian people and improve access to vital financial services.

About Creditcoin

Creditcoin is a foundational L1 blockchain designed to match and record credit transactions, creating a public ledger of credit history and loan performance and paving the way for a new generation of interoperable cross-chain credit markets.

By working with technology partners, fintech lenders such as Aella, and other financial institutions across global emerging markets, Creditcoin is securing capital financing, building credit history and facilitating trust for millions of underserved financial customers and businesses based on the principles of RWA.