Africa’s Digital Asset Leaders Unveil the 2026 Builders Accord
A Crucial Call for Participation in a Survey from the Virtual Asset Service Providers Association (VASPA)
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Project Green-White-Green Launches Roadmap to Transform Nigeria’s Digital Asset Economy
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VASPA Africa
Post Date
February 13, 2026
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Introduction
ABUJA, Nigeria — In a bold move to end years of “regulation by enforcement” in Nigeria’s digital asset economy and transform the new economy for national development, the Virtual Asset Service Providers Association (VASPA) has launched Project Green-White-Green. This project, one of a series in Africa, calls for collaboration with stakeholders in the private and public sectors, aiming to transition the country’s massive digital asset ecosystem from a state of “regulatory paradox” or operational limbo to a fully integrated pillar of the national economy.
Nigeria currently stands as a global titan in digital assets, ranking 6th in global adoption with over $92.1 billion in transaction volume recorded between July 2024 and June 2025. However, industry leaders warn that systemic friction and blocked market access threaten the nation’s ambitious $1 trillion economy roadmap by 2030.
Signalling that it is time to move from the friction of the past to full formalization, the project offers a vision where Nigeria remains a heartbeat of global liquidity while securing its own fiscal future.
To fully appreciate the significance of Project Green-White-Green, it is essential to understand the “Regulatory Paradox” that has defined Nigeria’s digital asset landscape over the past five years. The project is not just a policy proposal; it is a calculated response to a decade of innovation, volatility, and institutional friction.
The Historical Context: A Market of Extremes
Nigeria’s journey with digital assets has been a high-stakes tug-of-war between grassroots adoption and institutional caution:
- The 2021 Resistance: In February 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a landmark directive prohibiting banks from facilitating crypto-related transactions. This effectively forced one of the world’s most active crypto markets into “the shadows”—fueling a massive Peer-to-Peer (P2P) economy that lacked formal oversight and tax contribution.
- The 2023–2024 Pivot: Recognizing that resistance was futile, the CBN under a new leadership reversed the banking ban in December 2023. This was followed by the regulatory framework for VASPs in the capital market under the control of the Securities and Exchange Council (SEC). However, the legalization was incomplete in practice. Banks struggle to transition from a total ban to a restrictive regulatory model, creating a ‘shadow ban’ at the operational level.
- The Blackout Era (2024–2025): The market faced its greatest challenge during this period, marked by the blocking of global exchange IP addresses and high-profile executive detentions. These events created an economic chilling effect, causing vital venture capital and indigenous talent to begin migrating to more predictable foreign jurisdictions.
- Formalization Without Access (2025-2026): In 2025, Nigeria did not only introduce a new investments and securities law that recognizes virtual assets as “securities”, but the country also introduced tax reforms that formalized crypto taxation. Despite these significant milestones, the sector remains largely stunted with potentials yet unlocked. There is apparent misalignment between innovation and regulation & enforcements that call for a constructive realignment amongst all stakeholders.
Beverley Agbakoba-Onyejianya, Vice Chair on Corporate Governance of VASPA, emphasized that it is time Nigeria moved from formalization to market access. In the words of the corporate governance and compliance professional, “While Nigeria—and indeed some other countries across Africa—is not where it used to be in crypto regulation, the country needs to transit from formalization to market access. In other words, it’s time to enable business to actually flow, beyond ticking boxes that give Nigeria pass marks on the global map. Project Green-White-Green is essentially about bridging gaps so the country can truly move forward with innovation, confidence, and prosperity.”
The Economic Backdrop: Nigeria’s $1 Trillion by 2030 Ambition
Nigeria is at a pivotal moment in terms of its broader economic strategy. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has set a target for a $1 Trillion Economy by 2030.
- Digital Workforce: The administration views a globally competitive digital workforce as the engine of this growth. However, an unregulated or “blocked” digital asset sector creates a ceiling for fintech innovation.
- FATF Grey List Exit: In October 2025, Nigeria successfully exited the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) “Grey List.” This was a major milestone in restoring global financial confidence, but it also placed a mandate on the country to maintain rigorous AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism) standards—a goal that Project Green-White-Green directly supports.
Where "Project Green-White-Green" Comes In
The name is a deliberate reclamation of national colors of Nigeria to signal a new social contract between the state and the innovator that VASPA is championing in collaboration with all stakeholders in the public and private sector:
Green (Innovation):
A signal to proceed, nurturing a nascent industry for global competitiveness.
White (Integrity):
A commitment to resolving past disputes peacefully and building an accountable and transparent ecosystem.
Green (Prosperity):
The ultimate goal is sustainable growth that secures prosperity for all, including the nation.
“The name ‘Project Green-White-Green’ is a deliberate reclamation of our national colors, symbolizing a new era of collaboration between the state and innovators. We’re championing a social contract that fosters innovation, integrity, and prosperity. With Green representing innovation and sustainable growth, White signifying integrity, and the second Green representing prosperity, we’re paving the way for Nigeria’s digital asset ecosystem to thrive locally and globally,” said Buki Ogunsakin, Vice Chair, Programs and Communications, VASPA.
The Three-Pillar Framework
The project is structured around three primary pillars designed to reconcile the interests of innovators with national mandates:
- The Market Integrity Pillar: This pillar focuses on stabilizing the financial system through technical mechanisms such as “circuit breakers” linked to official exchange rates and a verification protocol to ensure seamless banking access for licensed providers. It also seeks to harmonize licensing between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
- The National Security Pillar: This area addresses security concerns by integrating digital asset traceability with Nigeria’s national identity database, ensuring compliance with global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing standards while protecting privacy.
- The Fiscal Sovereignty Pillar: The focus here is on formalizing the sector’s contribution to national revenue through automated tax systems, proposed tax amnesties for previous periods, and compliance-linked incentives such as temporary tax holidays.
Strategic Objectives and Impact
- Economic Contribution: While the virtual asset sector is projected to generate over ₦500 billion in annual sovereign revenue through automated taxes and compliance levies, its true value lies in its role as a catalyst for Nigeria’s broader economic transformation. Nigeria can attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through a clear, harmonized framework that signals to global investors that Nigeria is a predictable and secure destination for high-growth technology capital; create thousands of high-skilled jobs in software engineering, cybersecurity, compliance, and digital finance benefitting Nigeria’s youthful, tech-literate population and providing a vital pathway to reduce unemployment through the digital economy; and encourage global exchanges to establish fully licensed local subsidiaries, the project facilitates the transfer of cutting-edge blockchain and financial technology to the domestic market.
- Regulatory Harmonization and Safe Harbor Pilot: It advocates for high-level policy interventions, including a presidential executive order to relevant executive agencies, to clarify legal classifications and ensure that regulations do not stifle indigenous innovation. To move forward, the initiative proposes a pilot phase that allows operators to transition into full compliance under a collaborative, non-punitive framework involving major regulatory bodies.
Overall, the initiative seeks to resolve Nigeria’s “Regulatory Paradox” by providing a structured environment that offers the government security and fiscal stability while providing the digital asset industry with the access and growth it needs to thrive.
The Case for Stakeholder Support and Participation
The name is a deliberate reclamation of the national colors to signal a new social contract between the state and the innovator that VASPA is championing in collaboration with all stakeholders in the public and private sector:
1. For the Government: A New Sovereign Revenue Stream
- Economic Stability: The introduction of “Circuit Breakers” and NAFEM-linked liquidity hooks ensures that digital asset trading supports, rather than undermines, national monetary policy and currency stability.
- National Security: The integration of the “Observer Node” and user-verification process linked with the national identity database provides law enforcement with the tools necessary to eliminate the level of anonymity that often fuels illicit financial flows.
- National Prosperity: By transitioning from a fragmented market to a fully formalized one, the government will be able to effectively unlock an estimated ₦500 Billion+ in annual revenue and also enable value chains that will sustain a thriving ecosystem.
2. For Operators (VASPs): Market Access and Growth
- Ending the “Shadow Ban”: Through the VASP verification mechanism proposed by the project, compliant operators gain legitimate access to banking services, allowing for seamless transaction processing without undue flagging.
- Incentivized Compliance: Participating operators can benefit from proposed tax amnesties for previous assessment years and a two-year tax holiday for newly licensed subsidiaries.
- Removing Expansion Barriers: The project advocates for removing the 10% user-growth restriction for Approval In Principle (AIP) holders under the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program (ARIP), allowing businesses to scale alongside the market’s true potential.
3. For Regulators: Harmonization and Oversight
- Eliminating Jurisdiction Gaps: The project offers a “one-stop shop” via a new inter-agency unit proposed to reduce the friction amongst relevant regulators and agencies.
- Global Compliance: The framework ensures Nigeria remains in alignment with international standards, such as FATF requirements, reinforcing the nation’s recent exit from the “Grey List”.
4. For the Broader Ecosystem: Stability and Innovation
- Reversing “Brain Drain”: By building a predictable Safe Harbor, the project incentivizes indigenous talent and venture capital to remain in Nigeria rather than migrating to or taking their ventures to offshore jurisdictions.
- Inclusive Innovation: The project recommends tiered licensing that ensures that smaller, indigenous startups are not decapitated by steep capital requirements at this nascent stage of the newly emerging industry, fostering a competitive, diverse, and future-proof local industry.
“Starting with Nigeria, the African giant in digital asset adoption, we are working with all stakeholders—from innovators to regulators; users to enforcers; the people and the government—towards what we describe as the constructive realignment of the virtual asset industry,” said Stephen Azubuike, the Vice Chair, Policy & Regulations of the Steering Committee of VASPA. “This is informed by the result of months-long research into the common frictions and gaps that have continued to make the country an unlocked potential for years—whether due to misalignments between market forces and government forces or lack of collaboration between key stakeholders, both between the private sector and the public sector, and between actors within both sectors, or lack of sufficient information and understanding of key and complex issues regarding the sector” pointed out Mr. Azubuike.
A Public-Interest Initiative that Needs a Unified Commitment and Support
Project Green-White-Green offers a path from “regulation by enforcement” to “regulation by clarity and collaboration”. This initiative is not merely a regulatory proposal but a strategic imperative to secure Nigeria’s position in the global digital economy.
But the success of Project Green-White-Green depends on the unified commitment of the entire financial ecosystem. In the various phases of the project, VASPA will be engaging all stakeholders in this regard and invites stakeholders in the private and public sectors to work with it for “constructive realignment of Nigeria’s virtual asset sector”, which has just kicked off with VASPs. A draft Project Green-White-Green Whitepaper is currently being shared with leading VASPs in Nigeria for their feedback, after which an “aligned” copy would be made available to regulators and other government agency.
The current Executive Chair of the Steering Committee of VASPA, Senator Ihenyen, describing VASPA’s commitment as a continental mission, describes the project as a special project in Africa’s nascent virtual asset industry, starting with Nigeria. “While Project Green-White-Green focuses on transforming the digital asset economy in Nigeria, it is just one of the key projects VASPA will be championing across Africa. As we continue to understudy markets and engage stakeholders in various African countries and complete the ongoing constitution and transition of the VASPA leadership into a Pan-African one, similar projects targeting very consequential jurisdictions across the continent are also in the big picture. We believe the lessons we are getting from Nigeria so far will greatly benefit our subsequent work in other African countries.”
By joining this project, stakeholders are co-authoring the future of finance in Nigeria, ensuring it becomes green in innovation, white in integrity, and green in prosperity. To collaborate with VASPA on Project Green-White-Green, please contact the Project Management Office at projectgwg@vaspa.org.
About VASPA
Founded and incorporated in 2024, the Virtual Asset Service Providers Association (VASPA) is the premier Africa-focused advocacy group for the virtual asset industry. Our mission is to foster innovation, harmonize regulation, and build a safe and thriving virtual asset ecosystem across the African continent. For more information about us, please visit our website, www.vaspa.org. To become a Patron or Partner of VASPA, visit our Membership page: https://vaspa.org/become-a-member/. VASPA also welcomes individual and corporate members.
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