While Nigeria has a high level of blockchain and crypto awareness, the country still faces issues related to public education in the field. Local experts discussed blockchain education’s challenges in Nigeria at the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN)’s Digital Assets Summit 2023, held in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
In the panel titled Web3 Education: Capacity Building, the group discussed the current level of blockchain and Web3 awareness in the country and the challenges that have surfaced on the journey so far.
Bello Usman Abdullahi, the chief operating officer of the blockchain education platform Bitkova Academy, said the language barrier is one of the current major challenges due to the complexity of blockchain technology and its jargon. Nigeria is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world, with over 500 languages spoken.
However, local blockchain hubs have begun educating individuals unfamiliar with blockchain technology using local Nigerian languages. Abdullahi said it is important to help individuals new to blockchain technology and Web3 understand what Satoshi Nakamoto was trying to achieve with the technology. This is necessary to correct the fear and negativity created in the minds of citizens by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the government, he said.
Related: 99% of Nigerians are crypto aware — ConsenSys report
In February 2021, the CBN severed connections between local banks and cryptocurrency exchange firms. According to Abdullahi, this act by the government and the CBN slowed the level of blockchain awareness in Nigeria, associating blockchain and crypto with adverse perceptions.
Nigeria has seen better days in terms of crypto interest, with Google Trends data showing the country dropped from the top spot to No. 2 in the world in search interest for Bitcoin (BTC).
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