Adopting Bitcoin As Legal Tender Won’t Solve Africa’s Economic Challenges – IMF

International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday said adopting Bitcoin as legal tender is not the solution to the economic challenges in African countries.

Gatekeepers News reports that Abebe Selassie, Director of IMF’s African department, stated this on Thursday, a day after the Central African Republic became the first African country and second in the world after El Salvador to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender.

Obed Namsio, chief of staff to President Faustin Archange Touadera, had said the move “places the Central African Republic on the map of the world’s boldest and most visionary countries.”

However, at a media briefing on the organisation’s economic outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa, Selassie condemned the development, saying, “it’s really important to not see such things as a panacea for economic challenges our countries face”.

“You have to make sure that the legislative framework, in terms of the transparency of financial flows, the governance framework around it is all robustly in place.”

Gatekeepers News reports that Bitcoin appreciated 1.96 per cent to about $39,782 on Thursday, according to data from coinmarketcap.com.