Binance is in talks with the government of Nigeria for digital economic zone development 

The government of Nigeria and the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance Holdings Ltd. are reportedly in discussions over the creation of a digital economic zone in the country, which will assist local business owners in accelerating the adoption of blockchain technology.

According to a statement released by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, the partnership intends to establish a digital center with the goal of creating an environment “similar to the Dubai virtual free zone.”

Taking advantage of an increasingly connected and youthful population, Nigeria, the nation with the densest population in the African continent, is looking to digital technology as a method to help diversify the economy away from its reliance on crude oil. Startups in the financial technology sector, such as Interswitch Ltd. and Flutterwave Inc., have recently emerged and attained valuations of one billion dollars or more.

This year, the government approved legislation for the trading of digital assets, and Nigeria Exchange Ltd. expects to launch a blockchain-enabled trading platform in the next year in an effort to increase the volume of trade at the exchange.

Efforts by Nigeria to embrace Blockchain technology

According to a survey conducted by price tracker CoinGecko, citizens of Nigeria have shown greater interest in cryptocurrency than citizens of any other country since the digital assets began their steady decline in April.

Nigeria stated last October that it was ready to introduce the eNaira, the country’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), at an event when President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the new currency.

The eNaira, one of the first fully developed CBDCs to be introduced globally, is the result of years of development, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The Federal High Court of Nigeria had previously in the same month confirmed that the eNaira had been approved, giving green light to the launch. After almost 10 years of launch, the country has expanded eNaira to the next phase with new mobile banking feature, attracting more users.