By Jasmine Browley ·Updated July 7, 2022
The Central African Republic is poised to move into the financial future with their latest move.
The country, which was the first in the continent of Africa to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in April 2022, announced its own digital currency, according to the nation’s leader.
“Sango Coin will be the currency for the next generation,” President Faustin-Archange Touadera said in a virtual briefing per Bloomberg. The digital money may be widely available in 2022’s third quarter.
Although exciting, the news comes with a bit of concern.
The country’s ambitious plans conflicts with its current economic standing, being it’s one of the world’s poorest countries with pervasive infrastructure issues. Their top government officials said they are aiming to make the transfer of money easier for its citizens, but Bloomberg pointed out that just 557,000 of its 4.8 million people have internet access and consistent electricity coverage.
Per the project’s website, CAR’streasury will hold 20% of the digital currency, The Sango Coin is predicted to also be used for the marketing of the country’s resources, government services, residency, and land ownership.
“The Central African Republic sits on a mountain of resources — gold, diamonds, rare minerals, unexploited resources. Sango Coin will enable the direct access to our resources for the whole world,” Touadera said per a Bloomberg report.
Although CAR is one of the first African countries to embrace digital currency, it isn’t the only.
Afrotech previously reported that Ghana will also launch a new digital currency — e-cedi, which aims to move consumers away from decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
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