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Over the past six years, several local stablecoins pegged to African currencies have sprung up with one clear proposition: to put African money on-chain.
South Africa has ZARP and ZARsc. Nigeria has cNGN, while Tanzania has nTZS. ZARP, launched in 2019, had about R74.6 million ($4.6 million) worth of tokens in circulation as of September 21, backed by R92.8 million ($5.7 million) in reserves. cNGN’s supply crossed ₦3.75 billion ($2.82 million) as of September 21, according to figures reported by the issuer.
The local stablecoin industry has spent much of its time explaining how putting African currencies on a blockchain could make payments faster, cheaper, and more interoperable. The pitch skips the harder question: who actually needs them on-chain badly enough to use them?
Originally published by TechCabal.