The Nigerian government is in talks with Binance to establish a special economic zone for crypto and blockchain-related businesses. The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) held preliminary talks with the crypto exchange and Talent City to discuss the proposed digital city – Virtual Free Zone.
Adesoji Adesugba, NEPZA managing director, highlighted that the proposed zone will be a first in West Africa. It will be similar to Dubai’s virtual zones which are designed to provide crypto-friendly laws, regulations, and tax incentives for crypto businesses. Adesugba says the zone would help develop Nigeria’s digital economy and widen employment opportunities for the citizens of the country. He said their goal is to engender a flourishing virtual free zone to take advantage of a near trillion dollar virtual economy in blockchains and digital economy. The executive added that this initiative would be part of Nigeria’s economic development agenda. They want to further drive crypto adoption in the West African region.
NEPZA seeks to break new grounds to expand economic opportunities for Nigeria’s citizens in line with the mandate of the authority, the directive of the minister, and the economic development agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari. Crypto adoption across Africa has picked up over the last few years because of the inadequate financial systems and unstable government policies, and inflation. Nigerian residents, as per a CoinGecko survey, are crypto-obsessed. They searched the terms “cryptocurrency” and “buy crypto” more than any of the other 14 countries surveyed.
