Nigeria continues to lead blockchain adoption in Africa, with government and private sectors integrating the technology to increase efficiency, enhance security, and provide transparency. According to Geoffrey Weli-Wosu, government support has been critical to this growth, with blockchain companies like Domineum playing a significant role in the country’s technology ecosystem.
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Weli-Wosu is the founder and CEO of Domineum, a blockchain-as-a-service company based in Lagos. At the London Blockchain Conference, he sat down with CoinGeek Backstage reporter Becky Liggero to discuss the growing adoption of blockchain in Nigeria and this year’s crackdown on ‘cryptocurrencies’ that has landed some, like Binance’s Tigran Gambaryan, in jail.
One of Domineum’s major customers is the Nigerian government, which has been supporting the transition from traditional databases to blockchain-based protocols. Weli-Wosu said the two recently signed an MoU to build the country’s tech city ecosystem.
Nigeria’s huge market is one of the factors that makes it the perfect market for blockchain in Africa, Weli-Wosu added. The country is home to over 230 million people, 70% of whom are under 35 years of age.
He added that government support has also played an important role, including the adoption of blockchain “to solve social problems.”
We also work closely with blockchain companies to place them at the center of our digitalization drive. For example, Domineum had the opportunity to co-host National Technology Week last year, culminating in the Digital Nigeria conference where BSV swept the show.
“The government is very supportive of blockchain. We expect Nigeria to open its markets to the rest of Africa,” Weli-Wosu said.
In this year’s crackdown on digital currencies, Weli-Wosu said it was “not necessarily a blockchain issue” and the government had only been cracking down on players using digital currencies for crimes. These actors have primarily targeted lax regulations to transfer funds in and out of Nigeria, bypassing official channels that require proper KYC and AML checks.
The crackdown resulted in the exodus of overseas exchanges and the arrest of Gambaryan, a Binance executive accused of money laundering and illegally operating a financial business in Nigeria. His bail hearing was postponed last month to October 9 despite pressure from some U.S. lawmakers to seek access to better health care amid his deteriorating health, a vigorous campaign by Binance to force the government’s hand.
See: The future has already arrived in Nigeria.
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