Africa Crypto Market Report: Nigeria Shows Highest Interest, Meme Coins Draw Most Attention
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Africa Crypto Market Report: Nigeria Shows Highest Interest, Meme Coins Draw Most Attention
Overall, interest in cryptocurrency in Africa is concentrated in a few countries on the continent.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Lim Yu Qian
Compiled by: TechFlow
Which African Countries Are Most Interested in Cryptocurrency?
As of 2023, Nigeria has the highest interest in cryptocurrency in Africa by far. It accounts for 66.8% of the continent’s crypto interest year-to-date (YTD), nearly eight times that of the second most interested African country.
Nigeria was previously ranked alongside Kenya as one of the world's most crypto-curious nations. The West African nation frequently appears in other global rankings, showing strong interest in specific crypto sectors including meme coins, Web3 gaming, AI cryptocurrencies, and even proof-of-reserves.
Like other African countries, Nigeria’s interest in and adoption of cryptocurrency is largely driven by weak traditional financial infrastructure and economic challenges such as high inflation and currency depreciation.
Overall, the top 15 African countries represent 97.5% of the continent’s cryptocurrency interest share this year.
African Countries with Moderate Crypto Interest
South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Egypt, and Côte d'Ivoire contribute a smaller share to Africa’s crypto interest, collectively accounting for 23.8% of continental crypto interest YTD. Currently, they rank second through sixth among African countries with the highest crypto interest this year.
Some of these African nations have also appeared in global rankings, though usually below Nigeria: earlier this year, Morocco was among the top ten countries with the most interest in meme coins, South Africa ranked 11th in interest for proof-of-reserves, and Egypt was identified as the ninth most affected country globally following the FTX collapse last year.
African Countries with the Lowest Crypto Interest
The remaining 48 African countries show relatively low interest in cryptocurrency across the continent, each holding less than 2.0% of the share this year. Specifically, only 41 out of 54 African countries showed interest in cryptocurrency this year, while currently 13 countries across Africa show no interest at all.
Among the top 15 African countries most interested in cryptocurrency, those ranked seventh through fifteenth account for just 6.9% of total crypto interest. These nine countries—Uganda, Angola, Algeria, Tunisia, Kenya, Namibia, Mauritius, Botswana, and Seychelles—each hold between 0.4% and 1.6% of Africa’s crypto interest share.
Despite its small share of crypto interest in Africa, Seychelles plays an outsized 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 any single country.
Overall, interest in cryptocurrency in Africa is concentrated in a few countries on the continent. This highlights the current uneven distribution of crypto interest across Africa but may also reflect characteristics of the African crypto community—for instance, African investors may not check crypto prices as frequently as those in other regions.
Which African Regions Are Most Interested in Cryptocurrency?
West Africa shows the highest interest in cryptocurrency, accounting for 74.7%, followed by North Africa (10.0%) and Southern Africa (9.6%). East Africa (3.8%) and Central Africa (1.9%) are the least interested regions in Africa.
Among the top 15 African countries most interested in cryptocurrency, North Africa and East Africa each have four representatives. Southern and West Africa each have three, while Central Africa has only one country in the top 15.
In other words, 4 out of 6 North African countries and 4 out of 18 East African countries made it into Africa’s top 15. Meanwhile, 3 out of 5 Southern African countries, 3 out of 16 West African countries, and 1 out of 9 Central African countries also entered the top 15.
What Cryptocurrencies Are African Countries Watching in 2023?
So far, meme coins, DeFi tokens, and blockchain networks are the most popular types of cryptocurrency in Africa. These three narratives make up 13 of the top 17 cryptocurrencies in Africa, including seven meme coins, four DeFi-related tokens, and three native currencies of blockchain networks.
Unlike Southeast Asia’s enthusiasm for Pepe (PEPE), interest in the broader meme coin sector appears higher across Africa. African investors follow a wide variety of meme coins—from Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) to other dog-inspired tokens like Baby Doge Coin (BABYDOGE) and Bonk (BONK), and more recently Pepe and Peepo (PEEPO).
Among the six analyzed countries, Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire are the only two that list meme coins among their top three cryptocurrencies. Additionally, Morocco shows interest in the payment protocol Ripple (XRP), while Côte d’Ivoire is interested in the controversial Terra Luna Classic (LUNC).
The other four African countries feature different narratives within their top three cryptocurrencies—a situation similar to Southeast Asia, possibly due to the lack of a dominant crypto narrative in 2023.
In Nigeria, investors have focused on the lending protocol Liquity (LQTY) and the Layer-1 protocol Conflux (CFX), which led China-related narratives early in the year. Neighboring Ghana’s top three cryptocurrencies are Dust Protocol (DUST) linked to DeGods, Bitcoin (BTC), and another lending protocol Kava (KAVA).
In North Africa, Egypt’s top cryptocurrencies include Sweatcoin (SWEAT) from the move-to-earn Sweat Economy and the token of the newly launched Layer-2 blockchain Arbitrum (ARB).
Finally, South Africa’s most popular cryptocurrencies include computational technology Truebit Protocol (TRU) and Dodo (DODO), the native token of a decentralized exchange.
Popular Cryptocurrencies in Africa in 2023
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Nigeria’s most popular cryptocurrencies are Peepo (PEEPO), Liquity (LQTY), and Conflux (CFX).
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South Africa’s most popular cryptocurrencies are Truebit Protocol (TRU), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Dodo (DODO).
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Morocco’s most popular cryptocurrencies are Dogecoin (DOGE), Ripple (XRP), and Bonk (BONK).
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Ghana’s most popular cryptocurrencies are Dust Protocol (DUST), Bitcoin (BTC), and Kava (KAVA).
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Egypt’s most popular cryptocurrencies are Sweatcoin (SWEAT), Arbitrum (ARB), and Pepe (PEPE).
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Côte d’Ivoire’s most popular cryptocurrencies are Terra Luna Classic (LUNC), Baby Doge Coin (BABYDOGE), and Shiba Inu (SHIB).
Crypto Interest Across African Countries in 2023
The remaining 13 African countries that did not register web traffic during this period are: Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
Methodology
This study analyzes cryptocurrency interest across African countries based on web traffic data from CoinGecko between January 1, 2023, and July 4, 2023. To ensure representative data, potentially inflated traffic volumes were excluded.
This research is intended solely for informational and illustrative purposes and does not constitute financial advice. Always conduct your own research and proceed with caution when investing in any cryptocurrency or financial asset.
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