Central African Republic Eyes Tokenizing Its Natural Resources

Despite the lukewarm response to Sango Coin, the nation's indigenous digital currency, the Central African Republic (CAR) has laid the groundwork for tokenizing its natural resources.

The initiative, unveiled by the Sango project team earlier this week, ushers in what they herald as a "new era of financial empowerment through blockchain technology." The CAR's legislative body has granted approval for the tokenization of land and natural resources, hoping to position the nation as a preferred business destination in Africa.

The law also sets the stage for streamlined online business license and electronic visa applications for both domestic and international companies. Once licenses are secured, enterprises can “seamlessly operate on the Sango platform, leveraging the capabilities of blockchain,” according to the Sango team.

The Sango project launched last year with resource tokenization in mind, and is meant to enable investment in CAR through Sango Coin, a state-issued token backed by Bitcoin on a separate sidechain network that is not a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

However, CAR’s Constitutional Court ruled that purchasing land and citizenship using the token was unconstitutional two months after the token’s ICO began.

The ICO’s native reception wasn’t very impressive, either. Despite offering 200 million Sango Coin for sale at a price of $0.10 during its genesis cycle, the government managed to sell less than 8 million coins to citizens at the time.

In April 2022, the nation made headlines for becoming the second country (after El Salvador) to accept Bitcoin as legal tender alongside the CFA Franc. But that law was reversed roughly a year later.

Nonetheless, President Faustin-Archange remains dedicated to crypto, with Sango crediting the leader for spearheading the new law.

The leader’s tenacity mimics that of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who has repeatedly rebuked outsider criticisms for pushing Bitcoin as legal tender in his own country. That nation has since launched Bitcoin education and mining initiatives, while the President has onboarded well-known Bitcoin diehards as personal advisors.