Crypto interest in Nigeria remains high, accounting for 67% of Africa’s interest

Nigeria has shown more interest in crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum than any other country in Africa, according to a research report just released by price tracking firm CoinGecko.

A Year-to-date, data breakdown shows that Africa’s most populous country accounts for 66.8% of the continent’s cryptocurrency interest, nearly eight times as much as the next African country. Nigeria was previously considered the country with the most cryptocurrency interest in the world, alongside Kenya

South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Egypt, and Côte d’Ivoire have not contributed significantly to cryptocurrency interest in Africa.

The remaining 48 African countries have the lowest relative interest in cryptocurrencies across the continent, at less than 2.0% per year.

More insights

Specifically, only 41 out of 54 African countries have expressed interest in cryptocurrencies this year, and 13 countries currently share no interest in cryptocurrencies across Africa. Africa’s largest economy with over 200 million people is also the largest source of BTC trading volume on the continent.

According to a recent report published by Blockchain.com, Nigeria has emerged as one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrency markets in the world.

Recall that a 2020 online survey by data platform Statista found that 32% of Nigerians who participated were using cryptocurrencies. This is the highest percentage of any country in the world.

Nigeria is one of the countries with the largest youth population in the world, with an average age of 18 in her and most of the population between 15 and 65 in her. It represents an opportunity to harness the potential of young people for sustainable development and growth.

What you need to know

In terms of Bitcoin interest, Nigeria has the second highest just after El Salvador. Likewise, the country is also Africa’s largest source of BTC trading.

Experts say scarcity of FX and stringent requirements by African banks has been a catalyst for high interest among its citizens as locals battle such problems with digital assets that already prove to be able to solve, such as hedging, remittance and providing relief during times of economic uncertainty.

In addition, unemployment remains very high in Nigeria, with KPMG estimating the unemployment rate at 40% this year. However, the crypto industry has created new job opportunities for young Nigerians, which is partly one of the reasons for the widespread adoption of crypto assets within Nigeria. In 2020, the number of jobs in the cryptocurrency industry has more than double the previous figures.