The national blockchain policy has been adopted by Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council, which would assist the government in creating a legal framework to control the launch of the technology.
On May 3, 2023, the Nigerian government, enacted a national blockchain policy. The minister of communications and the digital economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim, delivered a letter, which was approved in response.
An estimate from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) suggests that by 2030, widespread use of blockchain technology across a variety of industries could add $1.76 trillion, or 1.4%, to the global GDP, according to the announcement made by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMCDE).
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The national blockchain policy was created by the FMCDE after consulting with stakeholders in the public and business sectors. The national digital economy policy and strategy’s seventh pillar, which puts a strong emphasis on the digital society and new technologies, was followed in developing the policy on behalf of the Nigerian federal government.
According to a draft of the blockchain adoption plan published in October 2020, blockchain and distributed ledger technology will “facilitate the development of the Nigerian digital economy.”
The goal of the policy is to create a blockchain-based economy that enables safe exchanges of value between citizens, companies, and the government. The public and private sectors in Nigeria are anticipated to benefit from the policy’s implementation.
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Under the direction of the FMCDE, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) will be in charge of organising the policy initiatives. A multisectoral monitoring group has also been created to supervise the application of the strategy.
The National Universities Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria, and the Nigerian Communications Commission are among the regulatory agencies that the Federal Executive Council has directed to develop regulatory frameworks for the adoption of blockchain technology in various economic sectors.
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Initiatives to create a consortium for blockchain in Nigeria, strengthen the legal and regulatory framework, promote digital identity, develop incentive programmes for blockchain businesses, promote digital literacy and awareness of blockchain technology, and establish a national blockchain sandbox for testing and piloting are all part of the strategy for blockchain adoption.
Despite this new regulation, cryptocurrency transactions are still prohibited in Nigeria.
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