According to a Tanzanian newspaper, Zanzibar’s Minister of State (Economy and Investment), Mr Mudrick Soraga, has said the government is seeking to establish the viability of cryptocurrencies which are gaining relevance across the world.
The high-ranking official indicated that the government is seeking views from a variety of stakeholders such as banks, and the ministries of finance and foreign affairs.
Mr Soraga is also reportedly planning to meet with private consultants over the matter as the island tries to keep pace with the world.
The island, a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa, is following in the footsteps of mainland Tanzania where various officials, including President Samia Suluhu Hassan, have urged the nation to open its eyes to cryptocurrencies.
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In June 2021, President Suluhu told financial chiefs to prepare for cryptocurrency saying the age of crypto and blockchain was dawning as she urged her country to pave the way for change.
The President urged Tanzania’s central bank to begin the necessary preparations to adopt global attitudes towards banking, singling out cryptocurrencies as the future of finance.
While the government has not announced any concrete measures or plans following Suluhu’s statements, Tanzanians are not lagging behind.
Tanzania was ranked among top 20 nations in the world, when it comes to grassroots crypto adoption by a 2021 Chainalysis report.
Chainalysis crypto adoption index, which is designed to capture whether ordinary people are adopting crypto while minimizing the impact of institutional and/or professional adoption, also determined that Tanzania is 4th in the world when it comes to the value of peer-to-peer transactions.
These kinds of transactions (P2P) are the most favored style of cryptocurrency use in Africa with individuals transacting directly with each other without any intermediaries.
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