The Central African Republic (CAR) has become the first country in Africa to accept Bitcoin as legal tender. As a result, it’s the second country in the world, after El Salvador, to legalize the use of BTC.
The CAR National Assembly unanimously passed the bill to accept BTC as legal tender. The bill is intended to help implement the country’s plan for economic development and global cooperation, as reported by the RFI radio station.
The bill was put to the vote on April 21. The document was authored and initiated by Gourna Zacko, CAR Minister of Digital Economy, Postal Services and Telecommunications, and Calixte Ganongo, Minister of Finance and Budget. They believe that the introduction of digital assets at the legislative level will help develop the country’s economy as a whole and allow the introduction of blockchain technology in many spheres of life.
The document presented by the bill’s authors includes a legal framework for regulating the crypto market and describing the benefits of using BTC as a means of payment. Officials think that attention should be paid to the complete transformation of the CAR digital infrastructure so that investments in cryptocurrency become available to all segments of the population and could improve their financial situation. Recall that the number of crypto users in Africa grew by 25 times in 2021.
Notably, the Central African Republic has no national currency of its own, but uses the CFA franc, which is also the monetary unit of six of the ten other countries that make up the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).
African countries are actively considering the introduction of digital currencies at the legislative level. Recently, the blockchain project The Open Network (TON) confirmed its participation in launching cryptocurrency projects in Congo, Cameroon and the DRC.
