A Sovereign Economic Zone
ThreeFold recently formalized its partnership with ZICTIA, the Zanzibar ICT Infrastructure Agency, on behalf of the Zanzibar Government, to create the world’s first 100% Digital Free Zone - accessible and affordable for all. Together we are creating a streamlined platform where any entrepreneur, digital nomad or company can obtain a digital company license, a bank account supporting both fiat and cryptocurrencies, and handle their legal requirements and taxes, all in one place. The aim is to simplify the process of establishing and managing a business entity in the digital realm. This Digital Free Zone project is part of the Government of Zanzibar’s wider initiative to shift its economy from being largely dependent on tourism to embracing other sectors, namely IT.
The collaboration was formally announced by Zanzibar’s President, Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi, at ThreeFold’s Africa Regenerative Future Summit in July 2023 which brought together a group of passionate entrepreneurs and actors working on innovative planet-first projects in Africa. The President promised to establish the Digital Free Zone from a regulatory perspective, with the goal of developing local skills, bringing about major changes in the ICT sector, and creating job opportunities to increase the nation’s income. See his announcement in the video below.
As the world’s first Digital Free Zone, this special economic zone will be powered by ThreeFold’s innovative tech stack, operating as the digital backbone for this innovative policy sandbox. ThreeFold’s latest technology, which is currently being fine tuned, the Digital Twin, will be launched as part of the Free Zone membership. The Digital Free Zone (DFZ) Digital Twin application provides a centralized interface for accessing all free zone features and users will own 100% of the data and digital capabilities. Merging traditional business structures with groundbreaking technology, the free zone will be a pioneering hub for business, fostering an ecosystem that is adaptive, resilient, and conducive to growth. It will be one of the first environments where Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) can be legally established and operated. Some of the ThreeFold team is based in Zanzibar and working to make the Free Zone live by the end of 2024. You can be among the first to embark on the OurWorld Digital Free Zone journey - explore more here.
This new and exciting partnership between ThreeFold, ZICTIA, and the Zanzibar Government also aims to improve the internet for the entire island using ThreeFold technology. This future project will allow Zanzibar to establish its own autonomous and sovereign internet, empowering citizens to take back control of their data and digital lives. ThreeFold technology also serves as a foundation on which a wide array of impactful projects can be hosted on top of. This partnership is therefore also focused on exploring incubation opportunities on the island to support local communities and entrepreneurs to create their own projects and digital solutions. The goal is to create a sovereign internet created for Zanzibar by Zanzibar.
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