Nigeria approves national blockchain policy to boost digital economy

Nigeria has become the latest country to adopt a national blockchain policy, following the Federal Executive Council's approval of the proposal earlier this week.

According to the West African country's minister of communications and digital economy Isa Pantami, citing a PwC report, blockchain technology would help to ensure data integrity and could add up to $1.76 trillion to the global GDP by 2030.

The policy, which was developed by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), was launched in 2019 and aims to leverage blockchain technology to support secure transactions, data sharing and value exchange across sectors, with the ultimate goal of enhancing innovation, trust, growth and prosperity.

The activities of the policy will be overseen by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and a multi-sectoral steering committee has also been approved to oversee its implementation.

Regulatory agencies, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Nigerian Communications Commission, have been directed to develop regulatory instruments for the deployment of blockchain technology across various sectors of the economy.

With the adoption of the national blockchain policy, Nigeria joins other leading technology countries, including the UK, Switzerland, Estonia, Singapore and the UAE, in embracing blockchain technology at the national level. The private sector and other government institutions have been urged to leverage blockchain technology across sectors to further support the implementation of the NDEPS.