Tether expands African blockchain education initiative with Zanzibar partnership

Stablecoin issuer and global blockchain firm Tether has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of the semi-autonomous archipelago, Zanzibar.

The partnership will see Tether and the Zanzibar e-Government Agency (eGaz) work together to advance blockchain education and promote cryptocurrency adoption in the region. 

The details 

• In a press release announcing the partnership, Tether said it wants to lay the groundwork for financial inclusion and crypto education in Zanzibar. 
• To achieve this, the issuer of the largest stablecoin by market cap — USDT — plans to work with local educational institutions to incorporate blockchain education into their existing curriculum. 
• In addition, Tether is working to integrate its stablecoins —USD-pegged USDT and gold-pegged XAUT — into Zanzibar’s government-controlled digital payments gateway, ZanMalipo. 
• According to Tether, the firm may also, alongside eGaz, promote blockchain-focused events to raise awareness on, and further drive the adoption of digital assets. 

Key quotes 

• Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO, said: 

“This MOU with the Zanzibar eGovernment Authority reflects our commitment to advancing financial literacy and sustainable blockchain innovation in Africa...By combining clarity with educational investment and digital asset integration, we will be laying the foundation for a compliant, scalable, and inclusive digital economy.” 

• The director general of the Zanzibar e-Government Agency, Said Seif, said: 

“This MOU with Tether provides us access to the future as we could leverage on Tether’s support in enabling public participation, digital assets education, and catalyzing legal and institutional reforms towards inclusion.” 

Before now 

• In the past year, Tether has made moves to solidify its footing in the African continent via partnerships such as this. 
• Last February, Mariblock reported that Tether signed a similar MoU with the government of the Republic of Guinea to advance digital assets education and lay the foundation for the country’s blockchain initiative. 
• In the same month, Tether led Africa and Latin America-focused stablecoin liquidity provider, MANSA’s $10 million fundraise to support its expansion efforts.  
• Two months later, the firm announced another partnership with Nigerian-based crypto exchange Quidax.  
• The collaboration was aimed at empowering more than 15,000 individuals and businesses with knowledge of the use of bitcoin and stablecoins. 
• A year ago, Tether partnered with African blockchain community building platform NODO to drive stablecoin education in Africa over six months. 

Zoom out 

• EGaz joins a growing list of African governments who are looking to incorporate blockchain technology into their governance activities. 
• In 2023, the government of Mauritius launched the nationwide blockchain-based eVerify service to enhance the verification of government-issued certificates. 
• In similar fashion, Tunisia announced late last February that it was joining three other North African countries to adopt the blockchain-based Unified Arab System for Diploma Authenticity Verification. 
• The system was designed to help agencies and recruiters easily verify diplomas issued by higher institutions in the country.