As the economy everywhere appears to be in free-fall, with high inflation all over the world, many African countries are taking measures that will help their citizens deal with and hopefully solve some of their internal issues.
One such example is that of the Central African Republic (CAR) which adopted Bitcoin as a National Currency last April. This past Sunday, CAR President, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, announced in an online event the creation of the Sango Coin and a zero-taxation “crypto-hub“, the first in Africa. The currency is named Sango after the main African language spoken in the country. This currency will, via the a platform called Crypto Island, allow the country to trade in its vast natural resources (diamonds, uranium, gold, and other minerals). Until now, CAR has been, like 14 other African countries, enslaved by the French colonial tax that is the FCFA which served at one point to ‘siphon’ up to 75% of the countries’ resources directly back to France [Africa is funding Europe!]. It is clear that those African nations need new currencies, and we salute CAR for having the courage to start, even though crypto seems to be unsteady at the moment (like everything else at the moment); it is always scary to be a pioneer, but it is rewarding as well! As a side note, the west tends to overlook, or vilify some of our leaders who try to stand up or do things right for their people. President Touadéra is one of those African leaders who has been demonized for his want to free his country from the French chains, turning to Russia for help in stopping a war in his country which benefited France and its croonies. Rarely do the Western media highlight the fact that President Touadera is also a trained mathematician, and in his free time still teaches students at the University of Bangui in his country.
Excerpts below are from Barron’s. For more, check out articles on Bloomberg, and AfricaNews.
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Undeterred by the turmoil hitting crypto, the Central African Republic (CAR) — one of the poorest and most troubled countries in the world — has unveiled plans to launch its own digital currency.
President Faustin Archange Touadera, in an “online event” on Sunday, announced CAR would create the Sango Coin and a zero-taxation “crypto-hub“, the first in Africa.
The currency is named after Sango, which with French is one of the two official languages in the landlocked country, rated the world’s second poorest nation under the UN’s Human Development Index.
Through a platform called Crypto Island, the Sango will become “the catalyst for tokenising (CAR’s) vast natural resources,” Touadera declared, providing no timeline or other details.
He hailed Sango and Crypto Island as “a new digital system fed by blockchain,” the internet-based ledger that underpins crypto currencies.
“Sango Coin will give the whole world direct access to our resources,” attracting investors and “getting the engines of the economy going,” he enthused.
On April 27, Touadera’s office abruptly announced that the CAR had adopted Bitcoin as legal tender alongside the CFA franc, a currency the country shares with five other central African economies.
It became the first country in Africa to embrace Bitcoin as a national currency, and the second in the world after El Salvador last September.
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Touadera on Sunday said 57 percent of Africa’s population does not have access to a bank.
“The solution,” he said, was “the smartphone, the alternative to the traditional bank, cash and financial red tape“.
On Twitter, he said, “gold served as the engine of our civilisation for ages! In this new age, digital gold will serve the same for the future.”
African Heritage 