What happened?
Uganda launched a $5.5 billion real-world asset tokenization program alongside a pilot of its digital shilling CBDC, led by the Global Settlement Network and Diacente Group. The plan puts physical infrastructure assets across food, mining, renewables, and trade on a permissioned blockchain, with the CBDC backed by treasury bonds. The rollout centers on the Karamoja Green Industrial and Special Economic Zone and aims to reach about 40 million Ugandans via smartphones and USSD while creating jobs and boosting exports.
Who does this affect?
This impacts Ugandan citizens and businesses first—farmers, miners, manufacturers, and workers in the Karamoja zone who could access finance and payments digitally. It also affects regional players like Kenyan regulators and fintechs as Kenya advances its VASP bill, plus global stablecoin and payments firms expanding in Africa. Investors, remittance companies, local banks, and crypto service providers will all feel the effects as new on-chain assets and a CBDC reshape market opportunities and competition.
Why does this matter?
Market-wise, tokenizing $5.5 billion of real assets and launching a CBDC can unlock new capital flows, boost on-chain transaction volumes, and help drive up to $10 billion in annual exports and major job growth. Combined with stronger regional regulation and growing stablecoin activity, the move lowers barriers for fintech investment, speeds remittances, and builds local digital payment infrastructure. That shift promises big opportunities for investors and startups but also raises implementation and compliance risks that markets and regulators will need to manage.