Undeterred by the turmoil hitting crypto, Central African Republic (CAR) – one of the poorest and most troubled countries in the world – has unveiled plans to launch its own digital currency.
President Faustin Archange Touadera announced Sunday in an “online event” that CAR would create the Sango coin and a tax-free “crypto hub,” the first in Africa.
The currency is named after Sango, which, along with French, is one of the two official languages of the landlocked country, which is the second poorest nation in the world according to the UN Human Development Index.
Through a platform dubbed Crypto Island, the Sango will become “the catalyst for the tokenization of the vast natural resources (CARs),” Touadera explained, without giving a timeline or other details.
He hailed Sango and Crypto Island as “a new digital system powered by blockchain,” the internet-based ledger that underpins cryptocurrencies.
“Sango Coin will give the whole world direct access to our resources,” attract investors, and “start the engines of the economy,” he enthused.
On April 27, Touadera’s office abruptly announced that the Central African Republic had adopted bitcoin as legal tender alongside the CFA franc, a currency the country shares with five other Central African economies.
It became the first country in Africa to adopt bitcoin as its national currency and the second in the world after El Salvador last September.
The April announcement caused confusion among analysts given the deep-seated poverty and lack of infrastructure in the Central African Republic, where only one in seven people has access to electricity.
They also expressed concern about the impact of crypto volatility on savings.
Virtual currencies have tumbled as investors look for safer havens at a time of inflation and uncertainty sparked by the Ukraine war.
Bitcoin has lost nearly 60 percent of its value over the past six months.
– ‘Digital Gold’ –
Touadera said Sunday that 57 percent of Africa’s population does not have access to a bank.
“The solution,” he said, is “the smartphone, the alternative to traditional banks, cash and financial bureaucracy.”
On Twitter he said: “Gold has served as the engine of our civilization for ages! In this new age, digital gold will be the same for the future.”
The CAR’s crypto rush has been seen by some critics in the context of its closer ties with Russia.
Touadera was accused of using Russian paramilitaries to prop up his regime in exchange for offering the Central African Republic’s natural resources.
The country has a treasure trove of minerals ranging from copper and gold to diamonds and uranium.
The Central African Republic, a former French colony, fell into a sectarian-style civil war in 2013 after the ouster of then-President Francois Bozize.
Touadera was first elected in 2016 after a transition period and re-elected in 2020 under contentious circumstances.
Violence decreased in 2018, but rebels remain active.
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