Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), through its Nigerian Capital Market Institute (NCMI), has teamed up with the Kenya School of Government (KSG) and Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange Busha to launch an executive course on digital assets, one year after the country granted its first provisional licenses for cryptocurrency startups.
The University of Cambridge’s innovation arm, Cambridge Enterprise, will create and oversee the program, which is called Digital Assets Innovation, Industry, Regulation, and Compliance (DAIIRC). With an emphasis on how they can increase financial access throughout Africa, it is intended to educate executives in the financial sector, regulators, legislators, attorneys, and innovators on the advantages and disadvantages of digital assets.
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The SEC claims that although the partnership is still ongoing, it is a significant step toward the institutional adoption of cryptocurrency in Africa. The six-week hybrid program, which requires institutions to sponsor their CEOs, will begin on September 30 and cost $1,500 per participant.
A mix of international and African experts in digital assets will serve as facilitators, including former Cambridge Digital Assets Programme director Simon Callaghan, University of the Bahamas associate professor Dr. Dee Allen, CEO of the Africa Fintech Network Dr. Patrick Conteh, advisor to Jamaica’s Financial Services Commission on virtual asset regulation Loretta Joseph, CEO of GEM Advisory, a US-based compliance firm, Dr. Tanya McCartney, and Busha co-founder Olaoluwa Samuel-Biyi.
SEC Director General Emomotimi Agama said the collaboration with Busha and Cambridge as a means of equipping market leaders to handle digital assets “from a position of confidence, not caution.”
Nigeria’s cautious attitude to cryptocurrency regulation is the backdrop against which the training program is being held. Quidax and Busha were granted provisional licenses by the SEC in August 2024 in a sandbox environment that was anticipated to grow rapidly. As more operators entered the sandbox, the companies were supposed to move to full licenses in a year.
However, advancement has been more gradual. The SEC halted new permits in April, citing difficulties with due diligence. Many candidates were left in limbo as a result, and Busha and Quidax were under further pressure to show what a regulated crypto business should look like.
Regulation has required Busha to greatly scale its compliance procedures. Before its license, 10% of its operations were subject to regulatory regulations; now, about 30% of them are. These include more stringent Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, anti-money laundering (AML) compliance, proof of reserves, real-time reporting to the SEC via APIs, and sophisticated transaction monitoring through the use of international security technologies such as Chainalysis and Fireblocks.
Busha claims that despite the burden, regulation has contributed to credibility. More businesses are increasingly using digital assets to make payments or publicly keeping cryptocurrency in their treasuries. But because of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) long-standing animosity toward cryptocurrencies, banks are still wary. Account users still run the risk of having their accounts frozen if they mention cryptocurrency transactions, despite the fact that digital assets are already legally recognized. This discrepancy emphasizes regulatory uncertainty.
The SEC’s licensing policy is continually being improved. Both Busha and Quidax are still in provisional status; full licenses are anticipated after the regulator completes its internal procedures, including the development of liability guidelines and asset listing requirements. According to industry sources, the sandbox may reopen to new entrepreneurs before the end of 2025 with the issuance of another round of provisional licenses.
The collaboration with Cambridge and Kenya marks a sea change for regulators. Following a year of stop-start regulation, the action demonstrates a desire to strengthen financial institutions’ capabilities, give policymakers useful information, and transform an unstable sector into a well-organized market.
The successful implementation of the new training may hasten the shift from experimental licensing to more comprehensive regulatory clarity, opening the door for more inclusive financial innovation throughout Africa.
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