Despite Nigeria’s high level of blockchain and crypto awareness, the country still faces issues related to public education in the field. At the Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN) Digital Assets Summit 2023 in the Nigerian capital Abuja, local experts discussed the challenges facing blockchain education in Nigeria.
In the panel titled “Web3 Education: Capacity Building”, the panel discussed the current level of blockchain and Web3 awareness in the country and the challenges that have arisen along the way so far.
Bello Usman Abdullahi, chief operating officer of blockchain education platform Bitkova Academy, said that due to the complexity of blockchain technology and its jargon, the language barrier is one of the main current challenges. Nigeria is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world with over 500 languages spoken.
However, local blockchain centers have started educating individuals unfamiliar with blockchain technology in the local Nigerian language. Abdullahi said it was important to help individuals new to blockchain technology and Web3 understand what Satoshi Nakamoto was trying to achieve with the technology. He said this was necessary to correct the fear and negativity created in the minds of citizens by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the government.
related: 99% of Nigerians know about cryptocurrencies – ConsenSys report
In February 2021, the CBN cut off ties between local banks and cryptocurrency trading firms. According to Abdullahi, this action by the government and the CBN has lowered the level of blockchain awareness in Nigeria, associating blockchain and cryptocurrencies with negative perceptions.
Nigeria has seen better days in terms of cryptocurrency interest, according to Google Trends data It shows that the search interest for Bitcoin (BTC) in the country has dropped from the first place in the world to the second place.
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