Nigerian crypto push stalls $40bn blockchain plan
Nigeria's new crypto regulatory framework risks leaving billions in broader economic value on the table by failing to implement a three-year-old national blockchain strategy.
President Bola Tinubu recently signed a Virtual Assets Executive Order to coordinate digital asset regulation among the Securities and Exchange Commission, the central bank and tax authorities. However, this regulatory clarity has come at the expense of the country’s broader digital infrastructure goals. The National Blockchain Policy for Nigeria, approved in 2023, remains largely dormant.
The stalled implementation threatens substantial economic losses. The policy was designed to generate $40 billion and transform Nigeria from a consumer of foreign technology into a producer of blockchain-based services. The Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria has warned that inaction could forfeit an estimated $2 trillion in long-term economic value. Furthermore, Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access projects the technology could contribute $29 billion annually by 2030, up from roughly $1 billion today.
Industry executives argue policymakers have conflated blockchain technology with cryptocurrency trading. Obinna Iwuno, founder of the Crypto Bootcamp Community, noted Nigeria is the only African country and one of nine globally to adopt a national blockchain policy. “There has been no implementation. We thought that with the inception of this administration it was going to be accelerated, but instead what we have witnessed is a stalling,” Iwuno said.
The policy, overseen by the National Information Technology Development Agency, proposed building a sovereign blockchain network called Nigereum, modernising land registries and training developers. Iwuno compared the current regulatory focus to ignoring the wider uses of crude oil. “It is like focusing only on petroleum when crude oil can produce diesel, kerosene, jet fuel, gas and many other products. Crypto is just one byproduct of blockchain technology,” he said.
For investors and financial institutions, the delay means missed structural efficiencies in trade finance, supply chains and cross-border settlements. Bobola Odebiyi, chief executive of Avanor Labs, said the new Virtual Asset Council could help build coordination, but execution remains the hurdle. “Policy announces ambition. Infrastructure proves whether that ambition is real,” Odebiyi said.
Odebiyi argued the real opportunity lies in integrating blockchain into standard financial plumbing rather than treating digital assets as a standalone industry. “The biggest opportunity is not creating more crypto traders. It is creating better financial infrastructure,” he said. To unlock this potential and attract international capital, the government must establish clear pathways for startups to move from regulatory sandboxes to full commercial licensing.
