Nigeria is taking the first steps to create a crypto-friendly digital city of its own.

The country's Export Processing Zones Authority has recently announced on Twitter that it is partnering with Binance to create a Virtual Free Zone (VFZ) similar to the one in Dubai.

If Nigeria's plans bear fruit, it will be the first country in West Africa to host a virtual free zone.

Nigeria's Dreams Of A Crypto-Friendly Digital City

The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) said it is in early talks with Binance and Talent City for Nigeria to develop the first virtual free zone in the country and West Africa.

According to Adesoji Adesugba, NEPZA's managing director and CEO, the partnership would be similar to Dubai's VFZ, which allows people to engage in e-commerce and crypto trading without worrying about taxes, tariffs, or quotas on any imported goods, per UAE Free Zones.

For those unaware, Dubai is the first city in the world to host a VFZ.

Adesugba believes that the VFZ will expand "frontiers of innovations in the operations and management of free zones in Nigeria and Africa as a whole."

"We seek to break new grounds to widen economic opportunities for our citizens in line with the mandate of the Authority, the directive of the Honourable Minister[,] and the economic development agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari," Adesugba said.

He added that NEPZA's and the Nigerian government's goal is to engender a prosperous VFZ to capitalize on a "near trillion dollar" virtual economy in blockchains and digital economy.

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NEPZA's announcement on Twitter mentioned that Adesugba, Binance, and the Talent City for Nigeria discussed the possibility of establishing a VFZ in Dubai.

Binance was represented by Nadeem Ladki and Sameera Kamatrai, the company's Executive Director for Regional Strategic Partnerships and Senior Legal Counsel, respectively, during the meeting.

Meanwhile, Talent City for Nigeria CEO Luqman Edu went to the meeting on their company's behalf.

NEPZA Director Sikiru Lawal accompanied Adesugba during the meeting.

Nigeria, The Crypto-Obsessed Country

According to Coin Telegraph, Adesugba's vision may have been motivated by Africans' adoption of cryptocurrency, which is fueled by an inadequate financial system, unstable government policies, and inflation.

Bloomberg mentioned in an article citing a CoinGecko study that Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, is the most crypto-obsessed nation in the world, with searches like "buy crypto" or "invest in crypto" being one of the most popular searches in the country.

The crypto craze has been so popular in the country that the Nigerian Stock Exchange said it planned to start a blockchain-enabled platform in 2023 to deepen trade and attract investors to the market.

This plan follows an order from Nigeria's central bank in early 2021 that prohibits commercial lenders stop transacting or operating in cryptocurrencies as it might negatively affect Nigeria's financial system, per Coin Desk.

Bobby Ong, CoinGecko's co-founder, said that the study revealed that Nigeria, along with the United Arab Emirates and Singapore, are the keenest to buy the dip caused by the crypto crash and highlight their long-term outlook for cryptocurrencies.

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