Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya Lead Continent’s Digital Asset Growth Amid Regulatory Shifts

The 2025 Yellow Card Regulatory Report  highlights the rapid growth of digital assets across Africa, revealing both soaring adoption rates and a trend toward formal regulatory oversight. While some countries have adopted comprehensive legal frameworks, others maintain bans or limited regulation, yet the continent has emerged as a global leader in specific sectors, particularly stablecoins. Sub-Saharan Africa now holds the world’s highest stablecoin adoption rate at 9.3%, with these digital assets primarily used for cross-border payments, accessing U.S. dollars, and hedging against local currency volatility. Overall, the continent has more than 54 million digital asset users, with Nigeria leading globally in stablecoin adoption and ranking second in overall digital asset adoption, boasting approximately 25.9 million users. Other African nations such as Ethiopia, Morocco, and Kenya also feature among the top 50 global digital asset adopters.

The report categorizes African countries into four regulatory tiers: established frameworks (e.g., Nigeria, South Africa, Mauritius), developing frameworks (e.g., Kenya, Morocco, Ghana), no framework (e.g., DRC, Malawi), and effectively banned (e.g., Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia). Key jurisdictional developments include Nigeria, where the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has become the primary regulator, implementing the “Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program” (ARIP) and lifting previous banking restrictions on virtual asset service providers (VASPs). In South Africa, crypto assets are regulated under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS), with 248 licenses approved by the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) as of December 2024. Landmark rulings clarified that crypto assets do not currently fall under exchange control capital definitions.

In East Africa, countries are balancing innovation with taxation. Kenya introduced a draft law for digital assets, though a 3% transaction-based tax could hinder growth. Ethiopia has empowered the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) to regulate digital assets, signaling a shift from its previously restrictive approach. Southern African and island nations are also advancing regulation: Botswana re-enacted the Virtual Assets Act in 2025 to align with FATF standards, Mauritius regulates VASPs through the VAITOS Act, and Namibia established a licensing regime in 2023.

Across the region, trends such as AML/CFT compliance and incorporation of the FATF Travel Rule are gaining traction, while central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are being explored to promote financial inclusion. Fragmented frameworks remain a challenge in some regions, like CEMAC, where banking and financial regulators have taken divergent stances. Overall, growing international legitimacy and regulatory clarity are expected to drive further investment and adoption of digital assets across Africa in the coming years.