The surprise expressed by the region’s central bank and President Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s military reliance on Russian mercenaries are red flags.
Within months, nearly 4 million people, or two-thirds of the population, had piled into the Central American country’s new Chivo e-wallet system.
Most of the former French colony’s 5 million citizens, who enjoy just $525 of GDP per capita, lack access to broadband or 4G phone reception, a prerequisite for bitcoin-based transactions.
Furthermore, residents of Bangui, its riverside capital, already have access to digital currency via mobile money networks run by operators like France’s Orange in neighbouring Cameroon.
So too does the presence since 2018 of large numbers of Russian mercenaries, who have been accused by the United Nations of atrocities including torture, rape and summary executions.
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