African Encryption Market Report: Nigeria has the highest interest, and Meme coins are the most concerned

Written by: Lim Yu Qian

Compilation: Deep Tide TechFlow

Which African countries are most interested in cryptocurrencies?

Interest in cryptocurrencies in Nigeria by 2023 is by far the highest in Africa. It represents 66.8% of year-to-date (YTD) cryptocurrency interest on the African continent, almost 8 times that of the next most interested African country.

Nigeria was previously named, along with Kenya, the most crypto-curious country in the world. The West African nation also appears regularly in other global rankings, showing strong interest in sector-specific cryptocurrencies including meme coins, Web3 games, AI cryptocurrencies and even proof-of-reserve.

Like other countries in Africa, interest in and adoption of cryptocurrencies in Nigeria has largely been driven by weak traditional financial infrastructure as well as economic challenges, including high inflation and currency devaluation.

Collectively, the top 15 African countries represent 97.5% of the continent’s cryptocurrency interest share this year.

African countries with moderate interest in cryptocurrencies

South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Egypt and Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) contributed less to crypto interest in Africa, collectively accounting for 23.8% of the continent's crypto interest so far this year. They are currently ranked second to sixth among the African countries most interested in cryptocurrencies this year.

Some of these African countries have also appeared in global rankings, though often below Nigeria: earlier this year, Morocco was among the top 10 countries with the most interest in Meme coins, and South Africa was among the most interested in Proof of Reserves Ranked 11th. Egypt was also identified as the ninth country most affected by the FTX crash last year.

African countries with the lowest interest in cryptocurrencies

The remaining 48 African countries have relatively low interest in cryptocurrencies across the continent, each with a share of less than 2.0% this year. Specifically, only 41 of the 54 African countries are interested in cryptocurrencies this year, compared to 13 countries in Africa as a whole that are not interested in cryptocurrencies at all.

Among the top 15 countries in Africa with the most interest in cryptocurrencies, countries ranked seventh to fifteen accounted for only 6.9% of interest in cryptocurrencies. The nine countries are Uganda, Angola, Algeria, Tunisia, Kenya, Namibia, Mauritius, Botswana, and Seychelles, which account for between 0.4% and 1.6% of cryptocurrency interest in Africa.

While Seychelles has a smaller share of crypto interest in Africa, it plays a disproportionate role in the crypto industry as a business-friendly tax haven. Six of the top 30 centralized cryptocurrency exchanges are registered in Seychelles, the highest number for a single country.

Overall, interest in cryptocurrencies in Africa is concentrated in a handful of countries on the continent. This highlights the current uneven interest in cryptocurrencies across Africa, but may also reflect the characteristics of the African cryptocurrency community. For example, African investors may not check cryptocurrency prices as frequently as in other regions.

Which African regions are most interested in cryptocurrencies?

Interest in cryptocurrencies was highest in West Africa at 74.7%, followed by North Africa (10.0%) and South Africa (9.6%). East Africa (3.8%) and Central Africa (1.9%) are the African regions with the least interest in cryptocurrencies.

Of the top 15 countries in Africa most interested in cryptocurrencies, North Africa and East Africa are represented by four each. South Africa and West Africa each have three representatives, while Central Africa has just one country in the top 15.

In other words, 4 out of 6 North African countries and 4 out of 18 East African countries are in the top 15 in Africa. Meanwhile, 3 of 5 South African countries, 3 of 16 West African countries and 1 of 9 Central African countries also made it into the top 15.

Which cryptocurrencies should African countries focus on in 2023?

Meme coins, DeFi tokens, and blockchain networks are by far the most popular cryptocurrencies in Africa. These three narratives represent 13 of the top 17 cryptocurrencies in Africa, including 7 meme coins, 4 DeFi-related tokens, and 3 native currencies of blockchain networks.

Unlike the enthusiasm for Pepe (PEPE) in Southeast Asia, the entire meme coin sector seems to have higher cryptocurrency interest in Africa. The memecoins African investors focus on range from Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inucoin (SHIB), to other dog-inspired coins like Baby Doge Coin (BABYDOGE) and Bonk (BONK), to the most recent Pepe and Peepo (PEEPO).

Of the 6 countries analyzed, Morocco and Côte d'Ivoire are the only two to list Memecoin among the top 3 cryptocurrencies. Additionally, Morocco is interested in payment protocol Ripple (XRP), and Côte d’Ivoire is interested in the controversial Terra Luna Classic (LUNC).

The other 4 African countries all have different narratives in their top 3 cryptocurrencies, similar to Southeast Asia, likely due to the absence of a strong crypto narrative in 2023.

In Nigeria, investors have been eyeing lending protocol Liquity (LQTY), and layer-one protocol Conflux (CFX), which led the Chinese narrative earlier this year. The top three cryptocurrencies in neighboring Ghana are DeGods-related Dust Protocol (DUST), Bitcoin (BTC) and another lending protocol, Kava (KAVA).

In North Africa, the top three cryptocurrencies on the radar of Egyptian investors include revenue-oriented Sweat Economy’s Sweatcoin (SWEAT) and a token from newly launched second-layer blockchain Arbitrum (ARB).

Finally, South Africa’s most popular cryptocurrencies include computing technology Truebit Protocol (TRU) and decentralized exchange’s native token Dodo (DODO).

Top Cryptocurrencies in Africa in 2023

• The most popular cryptocurrencies in Nigeria are Peepo (PEEPO), Liquity (LQTY) and Conflux (CFX). *The most popular cryptocurrencies in South Africa are Truebit Protocol (TRU), Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dodo (DODO).
• The most popular cryptocurrencies in Morocco are Dogecoin (DOGE), Ripple (XRP) and Bonk (BONK). *The most popular cryptocurrencies in Ghana are Dust Protocol (DUST), Bitcoin (BTC) and Kava (KAVA). *The most popular cryptocurrencies in Egypt are Sweatcoin (SWEAT), Arbitrum (ARB) and Pepe (PEPE).
• The most popular cryptocurrencies in Côte d'Ivoire are Terra Luna Classic (LUNC), Baby Doge Coin (BABYDOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB).

Cryptocurrency Interest by Countries in Africa 2023

The remaining 13 African countries that recorded no pageviews during this period are: Burundi, Cape Verde (Cape Verde), Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea , Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe.

Research methods

The study looked at cryptocurrency interest across African countries based on CoinGecko's web page views data from January 1 to July 4, 2023. Potentially inflated pageviews were excluded to ensure representative figures.

This research is for illustrative and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research and exercise caution when investing your money in any cryptocurrency or financial asset.