Today on the Techpoint Africa Podcast, our reporters are joined by Mallick Bolakale, CEO and Co- founder, Startbutton, to discuss this week's top stories from the African tech space. It was an all Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) affair.
Last week, we reported on the CBN's alleged move to shut down all crypto websites in Nigeria. A source close to the matter told Techpoint Africa that telcos would be instructed not to allow people to visit the sites. By the evening of February 21, the block had already been put in effect with several users reporting their inability to access sites like Binance and since then others like Coinbase and Kucoin have been inaccessible.
So why is the CBN doing all of this? Bolu Abiodun and Bolakale answer this question and others, commenting on the arrest of two Binance executives by the Office of the National Security Advisor.
In more CBN-related news, we discuss the apex bank's new Bureau de Change guidelines. On Friday, February 23, 2023, the Nigerian central bank published the Revised Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for Bureau De Change Operators. BDC operators must now have a share capital of ₦2 billion ($1.3 million), while licences for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 operators have been increased from ₦35 million ($23,824) to ₦200 million ($236,137).
Chimgozirim and Mallick answer questions like what technological requirements are needed and their preparedness for it? How important is it that BDC operations are digitised and the benefits it could bring? what opportunities are there for card-issuing fintechs to tap into?
And for our last trick, our reporters discuss the CBN's Monetary Policy Committee meeting held on Tuesday, February 27. If you are wondering what this means for the startup ecosystem, you might want to read Chimgozirim's article and also listen to today's podcast.
You can catch up on the conversation on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and anywhere you get your podcasts. You can also send your questions and observations to podcast@techpoint.africa or share your thoughts using the hashtag #TechpointAfricaPodcast.
