With the rapid rise of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, regulating their use and trading has become a pressing issue worldwide. From China to the United States, governments are scrambling to keep up with the fast-evolving crypto industry.
Joining this trend, Zambia is now testing crypto regulation, with plans to wrap up the process by June. As the first African nation to default on its debt in 2020, Zambia is now striving to embrace the potential of cryptocurrencies while ensuring the safety of its citizens.
Tests To Be Wrapped Up By June
Felix Mutati, Zambia’s minister of information technology, asserts that before introducing cryptocurrency, the nation requires digital identities and other essential digital infrastructures. Tests of cryptocurrency legislation that are intended to assist Zambia in creating crypto laws that mimic the use of crypto in the real world are on schedule to be finished by June.
Felix Mutati, stated that the tests were being carried out to let the government “see what would happen in the real world” and to aid in the creation of crypto legislation.
“Our main goal in the area of cryptocurrency is to strike a balance between innovation in terms of digital payments […] against citizens’ safety, particularly given that cryptocurrency is very volatile.”
An Inclination For Investments In Zambia
Although Zambia’s debt restructuring process has been “long delayed,” with the majority of its debt owed to Chinese creditors, Mutati claimed that investment in Zambia has not been discouraged.
In 2020, Zambia became the first African country to default on its debt amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The treasury secretary, Felix Nkulukusa, cautioned that if the restructuring of the debt is not carried out promptly, the country could forfeit the advantages of its macroeconomic improvements.
Mutati is of the opinion that individuals will be much more integrated into digital financial services as a result of digital payment systems. The use of cryptocurrencies will promote financial inclusion and transform Zambia’s economy.
Recently, numerous African nations have taken steps to adopt cryptocurrencies.
