Exploring the landscape of crypto regulations in sub-Saharan Africa

"We ought to understand that regulators are just starting to figure cryptocurrencies out. Many of them have just begun their exploration and they hear about this in the worst possible ways, especially in Africa. Because nine out of 10 people you talk to in Africa have been scammed in a cryptocurrency-involved scam or know someone who has been scammed. That's a huge number, but then you consider the proliferation of multi-level marketing scams that operate upon Africa like OneCoin, this infamous Ponzi plus the crypto mining scams. Everyone in Africa has been scammed."

A Sept. 10 blockchain analytics report from Chainalysis indicates that Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya cumulatively lead the continent in monthly crypto transfers, which totaled $316 million in June.

Africa's interest in crypto could also likely be fueled by factors, such as worsening inflation, high remittance fees, low financial inclusion and political instability, among other factors, which, in turn, have made things difficult for the average person in sub-Saharan Africa.

The situation in various countries within Africa is similar, as they mostly fall under regulators that are undecided when it comes to crypto.

Below is an overview of what regulations in some of the largest crypto markets in sub-Saharan Africa feel like so far.

Continuing the trend of inconsistency the Minister of Finance in South Africa distributed authority over crypto beyond the SARB. The Minister noted in mid-2017 in Parliament that "The National Treasury together with the SARB, , and also established an Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group in December 2016, to develop an approach and revised policy stance towards fintech, including crypto-currencies."

The country has been trying to affix a pro-crypto stance recently, as seen in a policy paper released by South Africa's Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group, financial regulators in the country recommended "That crypto assets remain without legal tender status" in a roadmap outlining what could become the nation's first comprehensive crypto laws.

Though many of the nations of sub-Saharan Africa have changed their attitude toward crypto recently, Zimbabwe has seen perhaps the most striking thaw in recent years.

For the most part, the neutral regulatory stance on crypto in most countries within sub-Saharan Africa is due to a lack of education.

With Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, newly involved in the space, we may be about to witness a cascade of regulation from other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.