Ep. 59: Abubakar Nur Khalil - The Future of Africa’s CBDC & Bitcoin

My guest today is Abubakar Nur Khalil, a Nigerian Bitcoin Core contributor, CEO of the Bitcoin venture fund Recursive Capital, and one of only four board members of Btrust—a nonprofit supporting Bitcoin development in Africa. At just 25 years old, Abubakar is transforming the African Bitcoin ecosystem by training developers, advancing Bitcoin adoption, and supporting decentralized financial solutions.

In this episode, we explore Nigeria’s CBDC rollout of the eNaira, why it failed, and accompanying cash shortages, as well as the growing Bitcoin adoption. Abubkar shares his journey from contributing to Bitcoin Core to leading Btrust's mission of decentralizing Bitcoin development in the Global South. He also shares about the challenges of scaling Bitcoin adoption in Africa, the revolutionary role of Bitcoin mining in electrifying rural communities, and the untapped potential of Bitcoin in empowering Africa’s youth and businesses. 

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-- LINKS –

Abubakar’s Twitter: https://x.com/ihate1999 

Abubakar on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/abubakarnurkhalil/ 

BTrust’s Website: https://www.btrust.tech/ 

Abubakar’s Nostr npub: npub1sn0q3zptdcm8qh8ktyhwtrnr9htwpykav8qnryhusr9mcr9ustxqe4tr2x

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-- CHAPTERS –

00:00 Coming Up…

00:57 Introduction to Abubakar

03:48 The Journey to Becoming a Board Member of Btrust

09:08 Btrust’s Vision & Support for African Bitcoin Developers

12:58 Being Young & Successful

15:48 The eNaira - Nigeria’s CBDC

21:58 Cash Shortages in Nigeria

25:58 eNaira’s Failure & Speeding up Bitcoin Adoption

32:41 The CNGN - Nigeria's Stablecoin Initiative

35:01 Africa's Economic Landscape and Bitcoin Mining

40:15 Corruption and Governance Challenges in Africa

42:32 How Common Struggles Unify Africa

44:32 Non-Smartphones Can Use The Lightning Network

46:53 Ethiopia's Energy and Bitcoin Mining Potential

48:20 Why Are Most Bitcoin Transactions in Africa B2B

50:25 Regulatory Developments for Bitcoin Exchanges in Nigeria

52:54 Promising Future Projects in Bitcoin

56:58 Message of Hope