At the end of April 2022, the Central African Republic became the second nation in the world to make Bitcoin an official currency. The African country joins President Nayib Bukele's El Salvador.

This could be the inspiring story of a troubled nation that has chosen, against all odds, to project itself into the future and modernity. During his official announcement on April 22, 2022, the President of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, even congratulated himself on this bold choice:

“We place the Central African Republic on the map of the most courageous and visionary countries in the world.”

This decision, which has left many people around the world stunned, however, raises questions when you delve deeper into the subject. I am a Bitcoiner and I think Bitcoin is a unique opportunity for small countries, but the choice of the Central African Republic still raises questions.

It's hard to find a real economic rationale for this choice, no matter how I look at it. Establishing Bitcoin as an official currency seems slightly far-fetched in a country ranked 188 out of 189 by the United Nations on the Human Development Index.

Out of a population of some 5 million people, only one in ten has access to the Internet and one in six to electricity. This makes it very difficult to use Bitcoin in the Central African Republic. This small African country does not seem to be ready in terms of infrastructure to adopt Bitcoin so that its entire population can benefit from it.

The country has other emergencies before opting for Bitcoin

The Central African Republic is in the grip of interminable civil war, yet it has other urgent needs: security, of course, but also access to energy, education, road construction ...

The government in Bangui is right to think that Bitcoin can help “improve the living conditions of its citizens”, but it seems far too early at the moment. Other emergencies should probably have been addressed before Bitcoin was adopted as an official currency. It would probably have been more appropriate to propose a five-year plan for this.

The precedent of El Salvador shows how difficult it is to adopt Bitcoin as an official currency. Eight months after the choice of Nayib Bukele, it is clear that the success of this experiment will take time. And yet, El Salvador is far ahead of the Central African Republic in terms of infrastructure allowing people to appropriate Bitcoin to change their daily lives.

So it will take time as we all knew. Today's detractors must learn to take a step back. It will be time for a real assessment in 5 or 10 years.

The irruption of Bitcoin in the Central African Republic also seems incongruous because the country is already a member of a monetary union, the Economic and Monetary Community of Africa (Cemac). It is one of the sub-regions of the Franc Zone. A great deal of irritation has been expressed by the Bank of Central African States, which has been kept out of Bangui's plans.

The risks of fragmentation of the zone after this unilateral and illegal decision concerning the treaties signed by the Central African Republic are now great. Such an outcome would be even more detrimental to the future of the Central African Republic.

The CFA franc is called into question against the backdrop of Vladimir Putin's war of influence in Russia

Bitcoin is coming to shake up the CFA franc on its home ground. This currency is scorned by some as the ultimate colonial legacy that places African leaders in the position of eternal vassals of France. This is especially true in the CEMAC, which, unlike the West African Economic and Monetary Union, has never undertaken a reform of the franc: the six-member states are still required to deposit 50% of their foreign exchange reserves in an operating account held at the French Treasury.

Digging a little deeper, one quickly realizes that it is not insignificant that such a monetary revolution should take place in the Central African Republic, which is the real laboratory for Moscow's return to the African continent.

It is in the Central African Republic that hundreds of mercenaries from the Russian security company Wagner Group are deployed, whose assets were frozen by the Europeans in December 2021. One may therefore wonder whether Bitcoin will not be used as a bypass for various financial flows and trafficking?

The traceability of Bitcoin will bring this to light, but after all, will it bother the Wagner Group?

France, which is in charge of guaranteeing the convertibility of the CFA with the euro, might have something to say about the sudden move by the Central African authorities. However, the risk would be great of fuelling the trial of France's intrusion a little more.

One thing is certain: currency is becoming a new weapon in the war of influence waged by Moscow and Paris in Africa. A war of influence exacerbated by the current situation in which Vladimir Putin has plunged Russia by invading Ukraine in February 2022.

Only time will tell if the people of Central Africa will be able to benefit from the Bitcoin revolution. In the meantime, we can only wonder and wait to see how the authorities will deploy Bitcoin beyond the initial announcement effects.

Don't Trust, Verify :)

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