The wave of digital currencies may be billowing but hopes are already high across the world. Mauritius may be toeing the path of its African counterpartTunisia in announcing plans to roll out its own version of digital currency. Although this is merely more of a hint than certainty, Central Bank Governor Harvesh Seegolam said the Republic of Mauritius would be embarking on a pilot in the near future, though he declined to share many details.

“At the level of the Bank of Mauritius, we’re currently working on a project and very shortly we’ll be making announcements … with respect to a potential introduction of a CBDC,” he said.

Here Is What You Need To Know

• Seegolam’s comments are further consolidating on former Governor, Yandraduth Googoolye’s enquiry into the issuance of a CBDC, earlier reported in November last year during his tenure. Mauritius has to be some of the few African countries progressively leaning towards crypto-saviness. Last year, the East African country created a licensing regime granting licenses to digital asset custodians. The country also rolled out guidance on security tokens the same year. 
• For countries still afraid of the role of digital currencies in their financial systems, Bank of Mauritius is offering them a clue of how the two systems can co-exist. According to Seegolam CBDC, their version of digital currencies would be distributed through the country’s established banking system, even if the central bank issues the actual currency. This, according to him would avoid the risk of destabilizing the country’s financial system.
• However, Seegolam said the country is not in a hurry to launch its CBDC. 

“I think we are in a phase where we are all thinking about CBDCs, we are all very interested in introducing CBDCs but there are key fundamental questions that have to be answered first for us to be able to proceed,” Seegolam said. “These are not stumbling blocks, they are just questions on which we need answers to make it work in a more efficient manner.”

Read also:Mauritius-based transport startup Vite raises pre-seed funding round

• In early November, 2019, Tunisia‘s central bank announced that the digitization of the Tunisian dinar had officially started, and that the Tunisian central bank digital currency (CBDC) would be issued on the blockchain Universa. By this move, Tunisia would be the first country to start moving its national currency on a blockchain platform. News agency Tass reported that Russian startup ICO Universa will help the nation to issue and manage the digital currency, e-Dinar.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer