CAR expands Sango project to tokenize land and natural resources

The Central African Republic (CAR) has announced that it will expand its crypto initiative, the Sango project, to include the tokenization of land and other valuable resources. This comes three months after the country passed a law on tokenizing its natural resources. The Sango Coin, which is CAR’s national digital currency, will be used to facilitate this process.

The details

• The Central African Republic’s National Assembly passed a law on May 29, tokenizing state land and natural resources—gold, lithium, iron, and uranium.
• The law also allows citizens and foreigners to obtain business visas online, set up businesses, and secure licenses in agriculture, real estate, natural resource exploitation, and forestry.

Key context

• The intention to tokenize its natural resources has been part of the government’s plan since last year when it launched the Sango Coin and named it a legal tender.
• The act was criticized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank of Central African States.
• A local civic group in the country also filed an appeal with the constitutional court demanding the nullification of the Sango project.
• Foreign investors can buy citizenship in the CAR for $60,000 worth of Sango Coins, which will be held as collateral for five years. They can also purchase an e-residency for $6,000 worth of Sango Coins, collateralized for three years.

Key quote

• Speaking on the launch of the digital currency at the time, the CAR President, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, said:

“Our vision is ambitious. We are ambitious. Digital currencies are the solution for Africa. We want to build for the future, establishing our own National Digital Currency on top of Bitcoin. Our connection with Bitcoin helps us enable worldwide financial inclusion,” he said.

Key background

• The Central African Republic (CAR) revoked its earlier stance to make the Sango Coin a legal tender in the country.
• Touadéra made this known at a summit of the Heads of State of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) in Yaoundé earlier this year.

He said: “Cryptocurrencies offer various financial opportunities, and that’s what we are looking for. However, we have no intention of leaving the community. We will certainly continue to respect the rules.”

• The citizenship program, which costs $60,000, remains on the Sango project website.

Zoom out

• The CAR also plans to create a crypto island metaverse as part of its Sango project.