On June 24, 2024 we used this column to express serious concerns over the way domestic animals were being allowed to move freely on the streets of Accra. We specifically mentioned Adenta – around the SSNIT flats and Municipal assembly and the Tetteh Quashie Circle – a major landmark in Accra.
A few weeks after our editorial, the then Greater Accra Regional Minister, Titus Glover, issued a stern warning to owners of these animals to keep them in their kraals or risk losing them. He also chastised Metropolitan and Municipal Chief Executives in Accra for failing to control the movement of these animals.
Speaking to journalists after paying a working visit to ECOMOC, a slum near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, as well as cattle market on the Kanda Highway, the then Minister said he was compelled by the circumstance to perform certain tasks that were preserved for the MMDCEs, just to ensure that things are done as expected.
Mr Titus-Glover referred particularly to how stray animals – cattle, dogs and sheep among others – had taken over the streets of Accra, yet the MMDCEs are not working to address the problem.
“It is not the duty of the regional minister to be coming round and talking about these things. It is the work of the MMCEs, and from here, I’m going to summon them to my office and give them my final warning,” he said at the time.
Titus Glover had contended that cows being left to move freely around was not good for the image of the city of Accra and that “it does not speak well of the people”. He recounted calling the MCE for Ayawaso West Assembly to act on cattle grazing on the lawns at the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange.
“When you sit in your office, you will be in your comfort zone. The president did not give you the office to sit in. Even the President himself, once in a while, travels round the regions to see things for himself. So when he is reading the reports, he will say I have been here. I was in Saboba. I was in Tatale. I was in Zabzugu. He knows what he is talking about”, he said.
Almost a year down the line, the MMDCEs, including the very one Titus Glover mentioned – Ayawaso West – have not done anything concrete to stop animals from roaming the streets of Accra, our national capital. Just this week, The Chronicle reporters saw some cattle grazing openly at America House, one of the prime residential areas in Accra.
As for Adenta, the situation has moved from bad to worse as the cattle are seen almost on daily basis grazing in the SNNIT flats, where the Adenta Municipal assembly is located, and other parts of the municipality. Interestingly, we have MMDCEs who are supervising the jurisdiction of these areas, but nobody seems to care about the ugly development.
Can animals like cows be seen roaming the streets of London, Berlin, New York or Toronto? The answer is certainly no, but people who have been appointed to leadership positions and claim to be learning from these advanced countries do not see anything wrong with cows mingling with human beings on our streets.
The other day, there were media reports that the newly appointed MCE for Kumasi had threatened to kill cattle roaming the streets of the Garden City and give the meat to the Kumasi Central Prisons. This tells the story that the problem is not limited to Accra, but other parts of the country as well.
Whilst the Kumasi MCE is taking proactive steps to address the issue, his counterparts in Accra are just sleeping on the job. In our previous editorial, we had earlier referenced in this write up, we called on the then President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to sack MMCEs who fail to deal with the stray animal menace.
The Chronicle is repeating this call on President John Mahama to also sack MMDCEs, especially those in Accra, should they fail to control the movement of cattle on the streets of Accra. As Titus Glover stated, which had already been referenced, MCEs are not supposed to sit in their cosy offices only, but must also move around to observe things.
Obviously, if these MMDCEs in Accra, especially those in Adentan and Ayawaso West Wuogon, had been going round, they would have seen this negative development. Cattle moving freely in Accra is a disgrace to the nation and that is why decisive action must be taken to deal with the problem.
Global cryptocurrency market capitalization has exploded, reaching $3.32 trillion as of January 2025—up more than tenfold from early 2021—underscoring the asset class’s rapid maturation from fringe experiment to mainstream finance (Fortunly, 2025). This expansion is mirrored in an unprecedented user base: over 560 million individuals worldwide now own cryptocurrencies, reflecting a near‑doubling of adoption since 2021 (Triple‑A, 2024).
Institutional investors have followed suit. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) shattered ETF records by amassing $50 billion in assets under management within its first 228 days—solid evidence that regulated crypto exposure has become indispensable for traditional portfolios (Decrypt, 2025).
Alongside institutional demand, decentralized finance (DeFi) has emerged as a transformational frontier. Total value locked across DeFi protocols surged from $5 billion at the end of 2020 to over $150 billion by December 2023, driven by lending platforms, automated market makers, and real‑world asset tokenization (Phoenix Group, 2025). In late 2024, DeFi TVL had climbed past $190 billion, marking a 2.5× increase over the prior year and signaling growing confidence in permissionless financial services (UPay Blog, 2025)
This private‑sector innovation has prompted central banks to accelerate digital‑currency initiatives. A mid‑2024 Bank for International Settlements survey revealed that 94% of the 86 surveyed central banks are now exploring or developing retail or wholesale CBDCs to modernize payment systems and enhance financial stability (BIS, 2024). High‑profile multi‑CBDC platforms like mBridge have reached minimum‑viable‑product stages, while retail‑oriented pilots move steadily toward launch—signaling a shift in how sovereign money may operate in the near future.
Yet despite these global advances, Africa’s digital‑asset markets remain under‑leveraged. Sub‑Saharan Africa accounted for only 2.7% of global on‑chain transaction volume—approximately $125 billion—between July 2023 and June 2024, reflecting both the region’s smaller GDP and its emergent crypto ecosystems (Chainalysis, 2024).
Nigeria stands out, however, ranking second globally in grassroots adoption and receiving $59 billion in on‑chain value over the same period; Kenya (21 st), Ghana (29 th), and South Africa (31 st) also feature in the top 50 (Chainalysis, 2024). Regulatory frameworks, however, are lagging: only one‑quarter of Sub‑Saharan African countries have formal crypto‑asset laws, exposing stakeholders to policy uncertainty and enforcement gaps (IMF, 2022)
With global crypto and DeFi ecosystems scaling new heights, Africa stands at a strategic inflection point. Will the continent harness blockchain to accelerate financial inclusion, empower its youth, and integrate its economies into the digital‑finance era? Or will weak regulation and infrastructure leave African nations dependent on external platforms, sacrificing local innovation and risking digital marginalization? The ensuing sections argue that bold, coordinated policy action is imperative to ensure Africa not only boards the crypto renaissance but steers it.
The Case for Urgency – Why Africa Must Act Now
Global Precedents of Leapfrogging
From Latin America to Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, emerging‑market economies are harnessing cryptocurrency to leapfrog traditional financial barriers. In Latin America, four countries—Brazil (9th), Argentina (15th), Mexico (16th)—rank among the top 20 in Chainalysis’s 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index, reflecting grassroots embrace of digital assets amid inflationary pressures (Chainalysis, 2023). Southeast Asia’s markets, led by Vietnam (1st), the Philippines (5th), Indonesia (13th), and Thailand (12th), have similarly integrated crypto into everyday commerce and DeFi experimentation (Chainalysis, 2023).
Eastern Europe, too, has seen vigorous adoption: Ukraine (2nd) and Russia (7th) exhibit high per‑capita on‑chain transaction volumes, fueled by remittance needs and alternative‑finance innovation. These regions demonstrate that with clear regulatory signals and supportive infrastructure, emerging economies can capture outsized benefits from the crypto revolution—charting a path that African nations cannot afford to ignore.
Economic Stakes and Youth Demographics
The global crypto market now exceeds $3.3 trillion, with over 560 million users worldwide (Fortunly, 2025; Triple‑A, 2024), offering unprecedented channels for trade, investment, and financial inclusion. Africa’s demographic profile makes it especially ripe for digital‑asset transformation: Sub‑Saharan Africa’s median age is just 19.7 years, and by 2030 nearly 60% of its population will be under 25 (United Nations DESA, 2024).
Young Africans are digital natives accustomed to mobile‑first solutions, yet unemployment rates among youth exceed 30% in many countries (ILO, 2023). Crypto and DeFi platforms can provide alternative pathways for entrepreneurship, cross‑border freelancing, and peer‑to‑peer finance—opportunities that risk slipping away if regulatory frameworks remain absent or ambiguous.
Costs of Inaction
Delaying strategic engagement with the crypto economy carries steep risks. Without clear laws, investor uncertainty will drive capital to offshore platforms—Latin American jurisdictions attracted $2.7 billion in venture funding for crypto firms in 2022, while African startups raised just $1.12 billion overall in 2024, a gap that risks widening absent policy reforms (Inter‑American Development Bank, 2024; Disrupt Africa, 2025).
Informal crypto markets flourish in regulatory vacuums, exposing retail users to fraud and market manipulation. Moreover, talent flight looms large: blockchain developers from Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa increasingly relocate to London, Dubai, and Singapore in search of legal certainty and investment, further depleting Africa’s nascent fintech ecosystems.
If African governments do not act swiftly to define, license, and supervise digital‑asset activities, the continent may find itself excluded from decentralized finance’s growth engines—and face not only economic marginalization, but also the loss of a generation’s brightest innovators.
Missed Opportunities Without Regulation
Legislative Vacuums Across Africa
Despite the clear promise of digital‑asset markets, most African nations have yet to enact dedicated crypto‑asset legislation. According to an IMF survey, only about 25% of Sub‑Saharan African countries formally regulate cryptocurrencies, while two‑thirds have implemented some restrictions, and six nations—including Cameroon, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and the Republic of Congo—have outright bans (Fuje, Quayyum, & Molosiwa, 2022).
Countries such as Ghana, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Algeria remain in legal limbo, lacking the guardrails necessary to foster secure investment and innovation (Nairametrics, 2024). This legislative silence leaves local entrepreneurs and investors navigating a patchwork of informal norms, undermining confidence and discouraging the domestic development of blockchain solutions.
Consequences of Policy Silence
What happens when policy makers fail to act? Investor uncertainty proliferates, deterring both local and international venture capital (VC) from flowing into African crypto startups. In 2022, Latin American jurisdictions attracted $2.7 billion in crypto‑related VC funding, whereas African ventures raised just $1.12 billion in 2024—an investment gap that risks widening without clear regulatory signals (Inter‑American Development Bank, 2024; Disrupt Africa, 2025).
Moreover, the absence of formal oversight fuels illicit‑finance concerns: unlicensed platforms and peer‑to‑peer channels operate beyond the reach of AML/CFT controls, eroding trust and exposing retail users to fraud (Fuje et al., 2022). Informal markets also fail to generate reliable data on adoption and usage, obscuring the true scale of opportunity and risk in Africa’s digital‑asset economy.
Foreign Platforms Filling the Void
In regulatory vacuums, global crypto giants step in—and risk establishing a form of “digital colonialism.” Binance, the world’s largest exchange, commands a dominant 52–72% share of African crypto‑exchange users, according to its own regional survey (Binance, 2025). Such concentration not only redirects trading volumes and fee revenues offshore but also sidelines homegrown platforms and intermediaries that could otherwise generate local employment and technological know‑how. Without proactive legislation to level the playing field—through licensing requirements, local‑entity provisions, and market‑integrity standards—African economies risk ceding control of their digital‑finance ecosystems to foreign incumbents, forfeiting the very innovation and economic empowerment that crypto promises.
The Economic Promise of Crypto for Africa
DeFi as a Catalyst for SME and Youth Financing
Decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms have unlocked new, permissionless credit markets that bypass traditional bank lending constraints. Global DeFi total value locked surged from $5 billion at the end of 2020 to over $150 billion by December 2023, driven by on‑chain lending protocols and automated market makers (Phoenix Group, 2025). In Sub‑Saharan Africa, where small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face a finance gap estimated at $331 billion—equivalent to nearly 38 percent of formal SMEs being credit constrained—DeFi offers a complementary channel for on‑chain credit scoring and peer‑to‑peer loans without the high collateral requirements of conventional banks (International Finance Corporation, 2018). In integrating digital‑ID standards and smart‑contract insurance, DeFi can democratize access to working capital, fuel youth entrepreneurship, and scale innovative business models across the continent.
Agricultural Tokenization and Supply Chain Financing
Blockchain‑based supply‑chain finance can directly address the global trade‑finance gap, which reached an estimated $2.5 trillion in 2022—10 percent of global merchandise trade—according to the Asian Development Bank (2023). In Africa, an IFC assessment found that SMEs in ten surveyed countries alone face a combined financing shortfall of $21 billion, impeding value creation in critical sectors such as agriculture (World Bank enterprise surveys, 2022). Tokenizing warehouse receipts, crop‑yield derivatives, and receivables on distributed‑ledger platforms enhance transparency and reduces counterparty risk, enabling farmers and agribusinesses to tap into global liquidity pools at lower costs. Such innovations can shorten cash‑flow cycles, improve price discovery, and mobilize working capital for smallholders long excluded from formal trade‑finance markets.
Diaspora Remittances and Stablecoins
Remittances to Sub‑Saharan Africa totaled approximately $54 billion in 2023, providing a vital lifeline for households yet burdened by high transfer fees and slow settlement (World Bank, 2023). The average cost of sending $200 to the region was 7.9 percent in Q2 2023, nearly double the Sustainable Development Goal target of 3 percent (World Bank, 2023). In contrast, stablecoin corridors anchored by regulated issuers and on‑chain settlement can reduce transaction costs to under 2 percent and enable near‑instant transfers across borders (World Bank, 2023). When paired with licensed digital‑asset service providers operating under clear AML/CFT frameworks, these corridors can harness diaspora inflows more efficiently, strengthen foreign‑exchange positions, and channel savings into productive investments rather than informal cash networks.
Trade Finance under AfCFTA
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is already reshaping intra‑African commerce: intra‑regional trade reached $192.2 billion in 2023, up 3.2 percent year‑on‑year, yet still represents less than 15 percent of total African trade (Afreximbank, 2024). Integrating tokenized letters of credit and blockchain‑enabled documentation within AfCFTA’s Digital Trade Protocol can slash transaction times from weeks to hours, reduce the need for documentary credit, and lower fraud risks. Moreover, a 2024 Economist Impact study projects that fully realized AfCFTA implementation—including digital‑asset corridors—could increase intra‑African trade by over 50 percent by 2025 and add up to $450 billion to Africa’s GDP by 2035 (Economist Impact, 2024).
Blockchain for Climate Finance
Global supply chains account for up to 30 percent of total carbon emissions, highlighting the urgent need for transparent, verifiable decarbonization pathways (ICC, 2023). Tokenized carbon credits—where each token represents a verified tonne of CO₂ abatement—can provide real‑time traceability and reduce project‑financing risk, attracting both public and private capital to reforestation, renewable‑energy, and sustainable‑agriculture projects. In establishing national registries for carbon‑credit tokens and integrating them with voluntary and compliance markets, African countries can mobilize climate finance at scale, align with Paris‑Agreement goals, and position themselves as leaders in emerging green‑token markets.
Spotlight on Youth and Innovation
Africa’s greatest asset in the crypto revolution is its youth. With a median age of just 19.7 years and an ever‑growing cohort of digital natives, the continent boasts one of the world’s youngest workforces (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2024). These tech‑savvy young Africans navigate mobile‑first ecosystems with ease, yet youth unemployment remains staggeringly high—often exceeding 30% in many nations (International Labour Organization, 2023). Cryptocurrency and blockchain present novel routes to enterprise and employment that bypass traditional barriers, offering peer‑to‑peer finance, decentralized marketplaces, and token‑based business models as accessible pathways for a generation eager to innovate.
Homegrown success stories underscore this dynamic. Yellow Card, founded in Nigeria in 2019, has expanded into 20 African countries and employs about 270 people, facilitating over $3 billion in transaction volume by late 2024 (Pan & Moon, 2024). Its pivot toward licensed stablecoin services and B2B treasury solutions demonstrates how African startups can rapidly scale by solving real‑world problems—managing currency volatility and remittance friction—through blockchain innovation.
Similarly, Chipper Cash exemplifies youth‑driven fintech growth. Co‑founded by two African expatriates in 2018, the platform grew from roughly 2 million registered users in 2020 to over 5 million by the end of 2021, powering free peer‑to‑peer payments across seven African markets (Forbes, 2021). Even amid the global fintech downturn, Chipper reported more than $100 million in revenue last year, underscoring robust consumer demand and the viability of crypto‑enabled services (Afridigest, 2023)
South Africa’s VALR also highlights institutional innovation led by a youthful entrepreneurial class. Founded in 2018 and now licensed by the FSCA, VALR serves over 600,000 retail customers and more than 1,000 institutional clients, offering spot, margin, futures, and staking products as it prepares to expand globally (Reuters, 2024). Its rapid licensing and diverse product suite demonstrate how regulatory clarity can unlock sophisticated service offerings and attract institutional participation.
Even nascent players like Fonbnk illustrate the power of lean, youth‑led fintech ventures. With just nine employees and $3.87 million in total funding, Fonbnk bridges prepaid mobile‑airtime economies to stablecoins, enabling unbanked users to participate in the digital‑asset economy (PitchBook, 2025). In combining local payment customs with blockchain rails, Fonbnk showcases how agile startups can deliver inclusive financial solutions at minimal scale.
These cases reveal a vibrant, youth‑powered fintech ecosystem that thrives where regulation and infrastructure support innovation. As African nations craft their crypto roadmaps, nurturing and scaling these entrepreneurial successes will be key to ensuring the continent’s digital‑finance future is homegrown, inclusive, and resilient.
Building an African Crypto Vision
Regional Licensing Frameworks
To unlock the continent’s full potential, African policymakers should adopt harmonized licensing frameworks modeled on the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol (DTP). The DTP’s Part III lays out common principles for electronic payments, data interoperability, and the treatment of fintechs, expressly mandating that State Parties “promote common and open standards to enable the interoperability of frameworks and systems to facilitate cross‐border digital trade” (AfCFTA Secretariat, 2024, Art. 3e; AfCFTA Secretariat, 2024, Art. 3g). In embedding “same activity, same risk, same regulation” principles into regional statutes—whether via ECOWAS, the East African Community (EAC), or SADC—member states can streamline licensing for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), reduce compliance costs, and enable a single regulatory “passport” for licensed entities across multiple jurisdictions.
Pan‑African Crypto Rail
Building on the success of the Pan‑African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which has already demonstrated up to $5 billion in annual cost savings by enabling instant, local‑currency settlement among West African Monetary Zone members (Afreximbank, 2019), Africa can develop a dedicated blockchain‑based “crypto rail.” This architecture would layer tokenized‑asset settlement atop PAPSS’s net‑settlement engine, allowing regulated stablecoins and tokenized securities to clear continent‑wide in minutes. In leveraging ISO 20022 interoperability standards and open‑source smart‑contract libraries, the rail would ensure that digital‑asset transactions benefit from both the security of permissioned networks and the efficiency of decentralized validation.
Education and Skills Development
Sustainable growth of Africa’s crypto economy hinges on a pipeline of skilled professionals. Leading universities have begun integrating blockchain into their curricula: the University of Johannesburg launched a formal blockchain certification in 2022, while Covenant University in Nigeria embeds blockchain modules within its Bachelor’s in Fintech program, collaborating with industry hackathons to give students real‑world exposure (Web3Africa.news, 2023).
Pan‑African initiatives such as the Africa Blockchain Institute offer standardized, expert‑led training and research, partnering with organizations to deliver courses that meet global benchmarks (Africa Blockchain Institute, 2024). Governments and the AU should incentivize such programs through scholarships, accreditation frameworks, and public–private grants to ensure that blockchain literacy reaches beyond elite institutions into technical colleges and online platforms targeting vulnerable and rural populations.
Multi‑Stakeholder Collaboration
Realizing this vision requires institutional coordination from the African Union down to national regulators. The AU’s Digital Transformation Strategy (2020–2030) under Agenda 2063 emphasizes e‑skills development—targeting 300 million Africans annually for basic digital competencies by 2025—and calls for pan‑African e‑applications and services to drive inclusive growth (AU, 2020; AU, 2022).
Implementing “crypto councils” at country level—mirroring the AU Digital Economy Task Force—would bring together central banks, securities regulators, telecom operators, blockchain‑analytics firms, and civil‑society groups to co‑create regulation, oversee sandboxes, and monitor market integrity. Regional development banks, notably the African Development Bank, can seed innovation hubs that co‑host policymakers, academics, and startups, ensuring that Africa’s crypto future is co‑designed by all stakeholders, anchored in continental integration goals, and aligned with Agenda 2063’s vision of a digitally empowered, united, and prosperous Africa.
Overcoming the Barriers
Managing Risks: Scams, Volatility, and Consumer Protection
Crypto’s volatility and the prevalence of fraudulent schemes often dominate headlines, fueling public skepticism. In 2024 alone, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria reported 792 arrests in a crackdown on crypto‑romance scams, highlighting how unregulated markets become fertile ground for sophisticated fraud (Reuters, 2024). To inoculate consumers, governments must mandate clear disclosure requirements—standardized risk warnings, volatility dashboards, and historical performance data—on every platform.
Investor‑education campaigns, co‑designed with consumer‑rights groups, can demystify common scam vectors and equip users to recognize phishing, pump‑and‑dump tactics, and fake token launches. Coupled with enforceable liability provisions for platforms that fail to report or remediate fraudulent activity, these measures can restore trust without stifling innovation.
Strengthening Cybersecurity, KYC/AML, and Digital Identity
Effective crypto regulation hinges on robust cybersecurity and identity frameworks. In Sub‑Saharan Africa, only 56% of the population has access to reliable electricity, while 43% have internet connectivity and roughly 49% own smartphones, limiting the reach of digital‑only solutions (World Bank, 2023; GSMA, 2024). Nevertheless, national digital‑ID programs are advancing: as of mid‑2024, 22 African countries had launched foundational ID systems, with 14 at advanced implementation stages, enabling more secure e‑KYC processes for virtual‑asset accounts (World Bank ID4D, 2024).
Regulators should leverage these digital‑ID platforms to enforce risk‑based due diligence, transaction monitoring, and cross‑border AML/CFT information‑sharing. Public–private partnerships with blockchain‑analytics firms can further bolster surveillance, detecting suspicious on‑chain patterns and automating alerts to enforcement agencies.
Bridging Digital Infrastructure Gaps
Crypto’s promise depends on reliable power, connectivity, and device access—resources still unevenly distributed across Africa. Nearly 600 million people in Sub‑Saharan Africa lacked electricity in 2023, and rural electrification rates remain below 30% in many nations (World Bank, 2023). Solar‑hybrid mini‑grids, such as those deployed by Husk Power Systems and Easy Solar, have demonstrated the feasibility of off‑grid power solutions, equipping communities with stable energy for mobile‑charging hubs and blockchain‑node operation (AP News, 2024).
Concurrently, satellite‑based internet services and public Wi‑Fi initiatives can close connectivity gaps, while targeted subsidies for entry‑level smartphones will ensure broader device ownership. In integrating energy‑and‑connectivity planning into crypto‑economy roadmaps, governments can generate the basic infrastructure upon which digital‑asset ecosystems depend.
Regulatory Pathways: Sandboxes and Public‑Private Consultation
Finally, adaptive regulation via sandboxes and multi‑stakeholder forums can balance innovation with consumer safety. As of late 2024, at least 15 African countries operated fintech sandboxes, with several—Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Mauritius—explicitly admitting crypto and blockchain pilots (Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, 2024). Effective sandboxes define clear entry criteria, consumer‑protection safeguards, and transparent exit pathways to full licensing.
Complementing these experiments, national “crypto councils” that convene regulators, industry leaders, academia, and civil society can ensure continuous policy refinement, rapid response to emerging risks, and the co‑creation of technical standards. These consultative processes—backed by regular public reporting—will help African regulators stay ahead of evolving crypto‑innovations, ensuring that safeguards adapt in real time without hampering growth.
Recommendations and Roadmap
Immediate Policy Actions for Governments and Central Banks
African governments and central banks must act swiftly to establish interim frameworks that bring digital‑asset activities into the light of regulation. First, ministries of finance should issue provisional crypto‑asset guidelines—defining payment tokens, security tokens, and stablecoins within existing securities and payment‑services laws—while mandating risk‑based customer‐due‑diligence, transaction monitoring, and suspicious‐activity reporting aligned with FATF Recommendation 15 (IMF, 2023).
Simultaneously, central banks should collaborate with national‑ID authorities to integrate digital‑identity verification into licensing regimes, ensuring that all Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) enforce robust e‑KYC procedures enabled by foundational ID systems now operational in over 22 African countries (World Bank ID4D, 2024).
Finally, establishing multi‑stakeholder fintech councils—with representation from central banks, securities regulators, telecoms, blockchain analytics firms, and consumer advocates—will institutionalize public‑private dialogue essential for refining regulations in real time and for overseeing controlled sandbox environments (IMF, 2023; Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, 2024).
Leveraging Continental and Regional Institutions
Continental bodies offer the legal and financial architecture to scale these reforms. The AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol (DTP) provides a harmonizing template for electronic‑payment interoperability, non‑discriminatory treatment of digital services, and data‑protection standards across all 54 member states—principles that should be extended to crypto‑asset licensing to create a true Digital‑Asset Passport (AfCFTA Secretariat, 2024).
To finance the necessary digital infrastructure, the African Development Bank (AfDB) can mobilize its ICT and infrastructure funds—such as the $20 million equity investment in AIIF4 aimed at fostering private‑sector participation in emerging technologies (AfDB, 2024)—to co‑fund blockchain backbone projects and national innovation hubs.
Moreover, the AfDB’s “Mobilizing Access to the Digital Economy” (MADE) Alliance partnership with Mastercard, which has infused $300 million into digital‑ID and fintech infrastructure, demonstrates how multilateral development finance can underwrite pan‑African digital platforms that support regulated crypto corridors (AfDB, 2024; PYMNTS, 2024).
Mobilizing Ethical Crypto Venture Capital
To bridge the $1.6 billion funding gap between Latin America’s $2.7 billion and Africa’s $1.12 billion crypto‑startup investments in 2024, governments should adopt investor‑friendly policies—such as tax incentives for green‑field blockchain ventures and streamlined entity formation for incubators—while enforcing clear exit‑tax and operational guidelines that reassure global VCs about regulatory certainty (Inter‑American Development Bank, 2024; Disrupt Africa, 2025).
Partnerships with leading ethical crypto funds, including Binance Smart Chain’s $1 billion Growth Fund and CV Labs incubator programs, can be formalized through co‑investment vehicles that prioritize startups addressing local needs—agri‑tokenization, remittance‑stablecoins, and digital‑ID solutions—thereby channeling capital into homegrown innovation rather than offshore platforms (Binance Smart Chain Fund, 2021).
Fostering African‑Led Digital‑Asset Initiatives
Beyond regulation and financing, Africa must cultivate its own digital currencies and tokenized ecosystems. National authorities should explore issuing interoperable stablecoins—backed by basket‑currencies or commodity reserves—to complement CBDC pilots such as Nigeria’s eNaira and Ghana’s e‑Cedi, both of which have already demonstrated consumer demand and financial‑inclusion benefits (BIS, 2024; RegTech Africa, 2024).
Concurrently, pan‑African consortia can develop sector‑specific tokens—for carbon credits, agricultural commodities, and intra‑regional trade—that leverage open‑source blockchain standards and shared governance models. In embedding these innovations within AfCFTA’s Digital Trade Protocol and linking them to PAPSS settlement rails, African states can ensure that local digital‑asset platforms serve African users first, reinforce monetary sovereignty, and generate data‑driven insights that inform future policy (World Bank, 2019).
In a major policy shift, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the disbursement of cash-based Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) for Nigerian pilgrims participating in the 2025 Hajj, following the intervention of Vice President Kashim Shettima.
According to a statement from Stanley Nkwocha, the vice president’s spokesman, the decision reverses an earlier directive mandating debit card-only transactions for Hajj pilgrims—a move that had raised significant concerns among intending pilgrims and tour operators due to infrastructural and literacy challenges.
Speaking to journalists after a meeting with the vice president, Aliu Abdulrazaq, Commissioner for Policy, Personnel Management & Finance at the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), confirmed the CBN’s approval for cash-based transactions.
“The meeting was prompted by the policy of the federal government on the card for Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) for 2025 Hajj operations. We have held a series of meetings before now. The Vice President intervened and invited the Central Bank’s Deputy Governor with a plea.
“Out of the magnanimity of the CBN and appeal made by the Vice President, they dropped the idea of a card for pilgrims in the 2025 Hajj, and they conceded to people having cash instead of a card. This is a landmark achievement for NAHCON,” he said.
Abdulrazaq noted the practical difficulties associated with cashless transactions for most pilgrims, adding: “If you go to Saudi Arabia, mostly the areas where the pilgrims are going to perform their rituals, there is only one Automated Teller Machine there, and it is always crowded – it poses so much difficulties for pilgrims to purchase whatever they want to purchase.
“Secondly, 95 per cent of the pilgrims from Nigeria are peasant farmers, and they have difficulties with electronic payments. Even with the cash, some of them have difficulties identifying the currencies. These variables make it important for them to have the cash they are used to.”
NAHCON’s Secretary, Dr. Mustapha Muhammad Ali, clarified that the development should not be mistaken for a subsidy or federal government concession.
The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Thursday, gave the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the go-ahead to arrest and detain six promoters of Crypto Bridge Exchange, CBEX, over alleged investment fraud to the tune of over one billion dollars.
Justice Emeka Nwite, who gave the order after the EFCC’s lawyer, Fadila Yusuf, moved an ex-parte motion to the effect, said the detention would be pending the conclusion of investigation of the alleged offences and possible prosecution.
“I have listened to the submission of the learner counsel for the applicant, EFCC. I have also gone through the affidavit evidence with exhibits thereto along with the written address.
“I am of the view and I hold that the application is meritorious. Consequently, the application is granted as prayed,” the judge said.
DAILY POST reports that the six suspects include Adefowora Abiodun Olanipekun, Adefowora Oluwanisola, Emmanuel Uko, and Seyi Oloyede.
Others are Avwerosuo Otorudo and Chukwuebuka Ehirim as 1st to 6th defendants respectively.
In the motion dated and filed April 23 by Yusuf, the anti-graft agency sought two prayers, seeking an order of the honourable court for the issuance of warrant of arrest of the defendants.
It also prayed the court for “an order remanding the defendants in the custody of the complainant/applicant pending the conclusion of investigation of the alleged offences and possible prosecution.”
Giving four grounds, the lawyer said the EFCC has a statutory duty of prevention and detection of financial crimes through investigation.
She said there was an intel to the office of the commission’s chairman against the defendant bothering on various criminal offences.
According to her, the applicant has a constitutional duty to investigate these crimes and enforce law and order.
Black Sherif has opened up on how his future would look like had he not pursued a career in music.
Speaking in an interview on the Afro Select Show, the ‘Konongo Zongo’ hitmaker said he would likely be selling second hand clothes in Accra or working in his father’s spare parts business.
“If I wasn’t doing music right now, I would probably be hustling crazy, doing clothes stuff in Accra or maybe if I wasn’t in Accra I would be selling my daddy’s tyres in Konongo.
“My dad sells spare engines, spare parts and those stuff, that’s a family business,” he stated.
Black Sherif also reflected on his senior high school days in Kumasi, revealing that despite being a boarding student, he often sneaked out of school to engage in activities such as gambling and dancing, particularly around the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
“My dad sells spare engines, spare parts and those stuff, that’s a family business,” he stated.
Black Sherif also reflected on his senior high school days in Kumasi, revealing that despite being a boarding student, he often sneaked out of school to engage in activities such as gambling and dancing, particularly around the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
“Back in high school, I didn’t really like to stay in school. I used to sneak out to go dance or gamble in Tech,” he shared with a laugh.
Meanwhile, Black Sherif is currently on an European tour promoting his newly released album ‘Iron Boy’, which dropped on April 3, 2025.
Popular Ghanaian singer, Kidi, has stirred controversy after sharing his opinion on women with high body counts.
The ‘Cheat On You’ crooner shared that he is open to having short sexual relationships with women with high body counts but can’t consider a serious relationship or marriage with them.
He disclosed this in a recent episode of the Ghanaian Gen Z podcast, Rants, Bants And Confessions.
The co-host asked: “When it comes to body counts, does it matter how many men a woman has been with?”
Kidi replied: “If you are just having a good time, we are having fun, I don’t care. But if you are somebody I am going to be calling mine, it matters.
“I don’t want to walk into a space and all the guys there are looking at me somehow because they have history with the woman I am with. I don’t want a woman who has slept with too many men. Because then, when I meet you, I am meeting a very degraded version of you.”
The co-host asked: “How are you meeting a degraded version of the person?”
Kidi replied: “By the time I get there, you have given yourself emotionally to 50 men who have all obviously done you wrongs in some way because you are still single; that means 50 people that you have been with did not work.
“We all know that when you give yourself to people, after it didn’t work, you shed a part of you. There is some bit of you that you shed when you leave somebody, you go to the next person you shed some part of you, you go to somebody else and repeat because you learn something from there. If you’ve shed 50 bits of you, what is left for me?”
Assistant Commissioner of Police and gospel musician, ACP Kofi Sarpong, has opened up about the struggles he went through growing up, revealing that he used to sell kenkey to support his education.
Speaking on The Career Trail on Joy Learning TV and Joy News, he shared how life was tough for his family, and how he had to drop out of school several times because there was no money to pay his fees.
“There were a lot of orphans in the family that my mother had to take care of. So you could imagine, that meager salary was what she used to cater for all of us. It was difficult. I dropped out of school about three to four times because the school fees were difficult to pay,” he recounted.
He explained that, despite his mother’s efforts to support him, the burden was heavy due to the number of dependents she cared for. To change the cycle of dropping out, he made a bold decision at just 13 years old to prepare and sell kenkey.
“I decided to help myself. So I started preparing kenkey. There is no kenkey that I do not know how it’s prepared; Ga kenkey, Fante, you name it. Up to Secondary School Form 5, I used to prepare and sell kenkey because I needed to help myself,” he said.
But the journey was far from easy. ACP Kofi Sarpong recalled moments of embarrassment and shame while selling by the roadside.
Musician and Presidential Staffer for the Black Star Experience, Rex Omar has urged Ghanaian musicians to keep their focus on the country’s award programs.
Rex Omar noted in an interview with GhanaWeb, April 19 that the Grammy Awards was created for Americans and not Ghanaian artistes; therefore artistes in the country must believe in the awards schemes.
He emphasised that musicians should also stop disrespecting the award schemes the country has.
“Sometimes when I hear Ghanaians talk, Grammy is for America. So, if you disrespect the Ghana Music Awards and you think you want to go to the Grammy, I don’t understand it because Grammy was not created for you.
“BET is an American TV station that ended up also doing their own awards. You get what I mean? So the whole situation is we have to believe in ourselves and things that we do in Ghana,” he said.
Rex Omar further suggested that industry participants should come together and establish an awards program that is comparable to the Grammy Awards.
He said that such initiative would attract musicians from other countries.
“We can also develop our own award if we speak well about it, if we do it well. Other countries will also want to be part of it. So, the whole thing is, it goes beyond just receiving an award.
“It’s a whole value chain and ecosystem that must be developed so as to be able to make any meaningful impact,” he stated.
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have agreed to halt fighting in the east of the country until peace talks mediated by Qatar reach their “conclusion”.
It is the latest truce since the rebels stepped up an offensive in eastern DR Congo where authorities say 7,000 people have been killed since January.
Both sides on Wednesday jointly announced to work towards peace following more than a week of talks, which they described as “frank and constructive”.
The decades-long conflict has intensified since January when M23 staged an unprecedented offensive, seizing Goma and Bukavu – eastern Congo’s two largest cities – and sparking fears of a wider regional war.
DR Congo accuses Rwanda of arming the M23 and sending troops to support the rebels in the conflict. Despite assertions from both the UN and US, Rwanda has denied supporting the M23.
Rwanda has said its forces are acting in self-defence against the Congolese army and allied militias, some of which it accuses of links to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
DR Congo also accuses Rwanda of illegally exploiting its mineral deposits in the east of the country, which Rwanda denies.
In a joint statement released separately by the M23 and Congolese government on Wednesday, each side pledged to give peace talks a chance.
Empty lorries were seen at the Tanzanian side of the border with Malawi
A normally bustling border crossing between Tanzania and Malawi was absent of its regular activity on Thursday morning as a trade row in the region deepens.
From midnight, Tanzania banned the entry of all agricultural imports from Malawi and South Africa in response to what it sees as restrictions on some of its exports.
South Africa has for years prohibited the entry of bananas from Tanzania. Malawi, last month, blocked imports of flour, rice, ginger, bananas and maize from its northern neighbour.
“We are taking this step to protect our business interests… in business, we must all respect each other,” Tanzania’s Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe said on Wednesday confirming the import ban.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the trade issues have so far failed but Bashe said fresh talks were ongoing.
The row comes at a time when Africa is supposed to be moving towards greater free trade through the establishment of a continent-wide free-trade area, which began operating four years ago.
South African exports of various fruits, including apples and grapes, to Tanzania will be hit. Meanwhile, landlocked Malawi, which has relied on Tanzanian ports to carry its exports such as tobacco, sugar and soybeans to the rest of the world, will have to reroute its goods.
Malawi’s ban on the import of certain produce, announced in March, was designed as a temporary measure covering goods from all countries to protect local producers, according to the authorities in Lilongwe.
While confirming the import ban, Bashe assured Tanzanians that it would not threaten their food security.
Neither South Africa nor Malawi have commented on Tanzania’s move.
