The Bank of Tanzania is reportedly planning to introduce a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, for the African nation after neighboring countries announced similar initiatives. According to a Friday Bloomberg report, Bank of Tanzania Governor Florens Luoga said on Nov. 25 that Tanzania was planning to follow Nigeria’s example in rolling out its own CBDC. Luoga reportedly said that the central bank had “already begun preparations” for a digital shilling, Tanzania’s currency since 1966. In preparing to launch a CBDC, the governor said Tanzania is also planning to expand research into digital currencies and strengthen the capacity of central …

The rising number of social impact projects using digital art to fundraise for charitable causes marks a powerful development in the nonfungible token (NFT) space. One such project leveraging technology for social good is Orica, an ethical funding platform supporting artists and social impact organisations, or SIOs, to create and sell NFTs. Orica launched Thursday at the Malta AI & Blockchain Summit, or AIBC Malta, and announced its collaboration with an NGO to drop NFTs on its platform and use those funds to build a school in Uganda. WE ARE LIVE @AIBCSummit Join us & celebrate the #launch of Orica, …

Zimbabwe's Minister of Information publicly dismissed ongoing rumors about the country considering the adoption of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin (BTC). Rather, Minister Monica Mutsvangwa clarified that the government of Zimbabwe is keen to experiment with a central banking digital currency (CBDC). The rumor about Zimbabwe’s crypto adoption was sparked based on numerous reports quoting Charles Wekwete, Permanent Secretary of the President’s office, saying that the government was in talks with the private sector businesses to help introduce cryptocurrency in the country. Just one day after the reports, Mutsvangwa took to a cabinet briefing to dismiss the ongoing crypto adoption claims: “Government …

Zimbabwe has been paying attention to the increasing demand for crypto among its people, which it views as a possible avenue for growth. The country has also been receptive to regulating the entire sector. Zimbabwe's government is considering utilizing Bitcoin as a legal payment option to meet this growing demand and harness the technology, according to local news. According to the news, retired Brigadier Colonel Charles Wekwete, the Permanent Secretary and Head of the Office of the President and Cabinet's e-government Technology Unit, confirmed that discussions with businesses are already underway. According to Wekwete, the disadvantages of the decentralized ecosystem …

In a tweet posted by the Cardano Foundation on Monday, the number of Cardano (ADA) wallets has surpassed the 2 million mark. The network reached the previous milestone of 1 million ADA wallets on May 22, 2021. During that period, the Cardano Foundation successfully implemented the Alonzo hard fork, enabling smart contracts on its network. Meanwhile, Charles Hoskinson, Cardano's founder, has shifted his attention to increasing the adoption of blockchain technology in Africa. Via a tweet posted last week, Hoskinson claimed that 5 million students in Ethiopia are on schedule to receive an ID based on the Cardano blockchain for …

The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has announced that it will facilitate a new remittance channel between Europe and Africa using the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin. On Oct. 25, the SDF announced that global payments technology company Flutterwave will use the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin on the Stellar network to simplify remittances between Africa and Europe. Flutterwave will work alongside Stellar’s principal EU payments partner, Paris-based money transfer operator, Tempo Payments. Olugbenga Agboola, CEO at Flutterwave, commented that it is more expensive to send money to sub-Saharan Africa than to any other region in the world. He added that the new …

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is set to officially introduce the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has published a document in which it reaffirmed its intention to introduce the eNaira after previously attempting but failing to do so on Oct. 1. According to the design paper for the eNaira, the CBN now considers itself prepared to implement Nigeria’s CBDC. The CBN is working on a global cryptocurrency that will be used as a means of payment and a store of value in addition to replacing cash. The CBN, in its own statement, …

Ghana is working to develop offline capabilities for its forthcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a bid to promote its use across all segments of Ghanaian society. According to a Monday report from Bloomberg, Kwame Oppong, head of fintech and innovation at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), revealed that the country’s digital currency “e-cedi” will support offline transactions during the Ghana Economic Forum on Monday. Oppong emphasized that offline functionality will allow Ghanaians who lack reliable access to electricity and internet connectivity to embrace the country’s CBDC, stating: “The e-cedi would also be capable of being used in an …

The African arm of the company behind the Ignis, Nxt and Ardor blockchains will be launching a multi-country tour to provide blockchain education in the public and private sectors. According to information provided to Cointelegraph, Jelurida Africa said it would begin a blockchain expedition starting with Tanzania’s self-governing state of Zanzibar on Oct. 23 before continuing on to Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania. The group aims to promote blockchain education with meetups in universities, financial institutions and public offices. The team of distributed ledger technology and smart contract experts said it plans to reach out to …

African cryptocurrency exchange Yellow Card has concluded a $15 million Series A financing round led by some of blockchain’s biggest venture funds, underscoring the growth potential of digital assets on the continent. The fundraiser, which was described as the largest ever by any African cryptocurrency exchange, will enable Yellow Card to scale its operations across Africa and onboard new talent, the company announced Monday. The Series A came roughly one year after Yellow Card successfully raised $1.5 million from various investors. The investment round was led by Valar Ventures, Third Price and Castle Island Ventures with additional participation from Square, …

Digital analytics firm Chainalysis reported that the cryptocurrency market in Africa has grown significantly since last year in addition to the region having a larger share of overall retail transaction volume compared to the global average. In a report released on Tuesday, Chainalysis said Africa’s crypto market increased in value by more than 1,200% between July 2020 and June 2021, with high adoption in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Tanzania. The company added that the popularity of P2P platforms could have been one of the driving factors toward greater crypto adoption in the region, given some countries have restricted or …

After four years of development, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to roll out its digital currency project. The launch will reportedly happen on the occasion of the country’s 61st Independence Day celebration on Oct. 1. Nigeria’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) project comes amid significant anti-crypto policies from the CBN and negative cryptocurrency sentiments from several government officials. The digital naira is also coming at a time when its fiat counterpart has plunged to new lows, with the central bank enacting even tighter forex restrictions. Details of the eNaira project circulated across commercial banks in the country …