After hearing the Bank Secrecy Act would be too expensive to comply with, Congress brought in "experts" to say how much it will cost. Congress: Would you agree that bankers exagerate the cost? The Expert: Oh, I have no idea. image
It's day two of #ABC2025 so let's look at some of the pilot projects in Africa by digging into what's been happening in Mauritius, Tunisia, and Ghana. The Bank of Mauritius received assistance from the IMF to research CBDCs back in 2020. After 4 years of research, the central bank launched a pilot in 2024. Details, however, have been pretty limited. It only said one commercial bank was involved and more pilots would follow. image The Banque Centrale de Tunisie had an early start in 2019 when rumors spread that it launched a CBDC, but the central bank quickly denied these claims. It did, however, launch a CBDC pilot in collaboration with the Banque de France in 2021 to test cross-border transactions. image The Bank of Ghana also got its start in 2019. It ran a pilot in 2022 and planned to go live in 2023, but it delayed those plans due to the high inflation experienced at the time. The central bank continues to be active in the space, but the timeline is unclear. image Tomorrow, I'll spotlight the only launched CBDC in Africa. However, if you can't wait... you can find out who it is in the @HRF CBDC Tracker.
CBDC Tracker
A CBDC is a digital national currency. In the case of the United States, a CBDC would be a digital form of the U.S. dollar whereas, in Nigeria, the...
I couldn't make it to #ABC2025, but I'm there in spirit. So for anyone else stuck at home, let's look at some of the African countries in the @HRF CBDC Tracker that are researching CBDCs: Botswana, Namibia, and Kenya. The Bank of Botswana kicked off its CBDC exploration in 2021. However, a central bank official confirmed this summer that they are still "at an early stage of exploration." image The Bank of Namibia began its research in 2020 and eventually received assistance from the IMF on at least three different occasions. However, in 2024, the IMF “did not find a strong case for issuing a [retail CBDC] at the moment." image The Central Bank of Kenya had a bit of a late start in 2022, but it has repeatedly found that CBDCs are a solution in search of a problem. The central bank said many of Kenya's problems "cannot be solved with CBDCs" and that launching a CBDC is not "a compelling priority." image Curious to learn more? You can find more information in the HRF CBDC Tracker. And tomorrow, I'll spotlight the pilot projects.
CBDC Tracker
A CBDC is a digital national currency. In the case of the United States, a CBDC would be a digital form of the U.S. dollar whereas, in Nigeria, the...