Nigeria has emerged as the African country with the highest level of cryptocurrency interest currently accounting for a significant portion, approximately 66.8%, of the total crypto interest in the continent year to date (YTD), latest report reveals.
This figure is nearly eight times higher than the crypto interest observed in the next most interested African country.
Other African countries such as South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Egypt, and Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) also demonstrate a level of interest in cryptocurrencies, albeit to a lesser extent. Collectively, these countries contribute approximately 23.8% to Africa’s overall crypto interest year to date (YTD).
Below is the ranking according to CoinGecko:
When it comes to crypto interest on the continent:
- West Africa takes the lead at approximately 74.7% of the continent’s total crypto interest.
- Northern Africa – 10.0%
- Southern Africa -9.6%
- East Africa – 3.8%
- Central Africa – 1.9%
Out of the top 15 African countries with the highest interest in cryptocurrencies, Northern Africa and East Africa have the most representation, with four countries each. Southern Africa and West Africa each have three countries among the top 15 rankings.
On the other hand, only one country from Central Africa is included in the top 15 list of African countries with significant crypto interest.
Below is the full list of African countries and their share of page views on CoinGecko:
| 1 | Nigeria | 66.78% |
| 2 | South Africa | 8.36% |
| 3 | Morocco | 5.43% |
| 4 | Ghana | 5.24% |
| 5 | Egypt | 2.74% |
| 6 | Ivory Coast | 2.07% |
| 7 | Uganda | 1.59% |
| 8 | Angola | 1.41% |
| 9 | Algeria | 0.82% |
| 10 | Tunisia | 0.60% |
| 11 | Kenya | 0.59% |
| 12 | Namibia | 0.56% |
| 13 | Mauritius | 0.52% |
| 14 | Botswana | 0.39% |
| 15 | Seychelles | 0.39% |
| 16 | Sudan | 0.36% |
| 17 | Senegal | 0.34% |
| 18 | Gabon | 0.30% |
| 19 | Lesotho | 0.25% |
| 20 | Ethiopia | 0.21% |
| 21 | Cameroon | 0.17% |
| 22 | Zambia | 0.15% |
| 23 | Rwanda | 0.10% |
| 24 | Libya | 0.09% |
| 25 | Tanzania | 0.08% |
| 26 | Congo Republic | 0.06% |
| 27 | Eswatini | 0.05% |
| 28 | Madagascar | 0.05% |
| 29 | Benin | 0.05% |
| 30 | Mali | 0.04% |
| 31 | Zimbabwe | 0.03% |
| 32 | Guinea | 0.03% |
| 33 | Togo | 0.02% |
| 34 | Somalia | 0.02% |
| 35 | Niger | 0.02% |
| 36 | Mauritania | 0.02% |
| 37 | Liberia | 0.02% |
| 38 | Burkina Faso | 0.02% |
| 39 | South Sudan | 0.01% |
| 40 | Sierra Leone | 0.01% |
| 41 | Mozambique | 0.01% |
In Africa, meme coins, DeFi tokens, and blockchain networks have gained significant popularity in the crypto space in 2023. These three narratives dominate Africa’s top 17 cryptocurrencies accounting for a total of 13 tokens. Among these:
- 7 are meme coins
- 4 are DeFi-related tokens, and
- 3 are native currencies of blockchain networks
The meme coin landscape in Africa showcases a diverse mix that have captured the attention of African investors. These meme coins span a range of offerings from DogeCoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), to other dog-inspired variations such as Baby Doge Coin (BABYDOGE) and Bonk (BONK), and even more recent additions like PEPE and Peepo (PEEPO).
- Nigeria’s most popular crypto are Peepo (PEEPO), Liquity (LQTY) and Conflux (CFX)
- South Africa’s most popular crypto are Truebit Protocol (TRU), Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dodo (DODO)
- Morocco’s most popular crypto are Dogecoin (DOGE), Ripple (XRP) and Bonk (BONK)
- Ghana’s most popular crypto are Dust Protocol (DUST), Bitcoin (BTC) and Kava (KAVA)
- Egypt’s most popular crypto are Sweatcoin (SWEAT), Arbitrum (ARB) and Pepe (PEPE)
- Ivory Coast’s most popular crypto are Terra Luna Classic (LUNC), Baby Doge Coin (BABYDOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB)
The study examined crypto interest by country in Africa, based on CoinGecko data for web page views from January 1 to July 4, 2023.
According to CoinGecko, 13 African countries that did not record web page views during this period were:
- Burundi
- Cape Verde (Cabo Verde)
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo)
- Djibouti
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Gambia
- Guinea-Bissau
- Malawi
- São Tomé and Príncipe
