Central African Republic to launch official crypto hub ‘Sango’

Shortly after approving Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in the Central African Republic (CAR), the local government is moving to provide the digital currency infrastructure.

CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce the upcoming launch of the country’s first major crypto initiative dubbed “Sango.”

The creation of the CAR’s crypto hub comes soon after the National Assembly unanimously adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, Touadera noted.

Following the unanimously adoption by the National Assembly of the #BTC legal tender status, we are pleased to showcase the first concrete initiative! It goes beyond politics&administration & has the potential to reshape #CAR’s financial system! #bitcoinhttps://t.co/1oxLHOen6q

— Faustin-Archange Touadéra (@FA_Touadera) May 24, 2022

The CAR’s presidency previously introduced the Sango project as the legal cryptocurrency investment platform on the government’s official Facebook page on Tuesday. The Sango platform is positioned as CAR’s “first crypto initiative” and is called the name of CAR’s second official language after French.

According to the official Sango website mentioned in the statement, the Sango platform was initiated by the National Assembly and is supported by the CAR government and the president.

“The construction of the first legal crypto hub in the heart of Africa will improve crypto experience by taking Bitcoin adoption to the next level, potentially bringing the most unconventional space in the world,” the presidencial statement reads. 

Touadera pointed out that the adoption of Bitcoin provides “unimaginable possibilities” for the country's development and transformation, stating:

“The crypto hub, Bitcoin [...] and crypto are the tools that will redesign the future of our country. Sango can usher in a new economic era with enormous potential, which neither Africa nor the rest of the world have imagined.”

The president also said that his greatest wish is that the Sango project makes crypto accessible to all, creating an international case of how crypto benefits become vectors of economic performance of the country. “The formal economy is no longer an option,” the president reportedly noted, adding that new platforms like Sango aim to tackle bureaucracy and promote competition.

Related: Crypto users in Africa grew by 2,500% in 2021: Report

CAR has become the first country in Africa to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender and the second country in the world to do so after El Salvador.

Amid the growing crypto adoption on the continent, a number of countries in Africa have been moving to adopt digital assets. In April, several African countries like Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo disclosed plans to adopt the TON blockchain as the cryptocurrency and blockchain to drive future national economic progress.