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Africa is a developing continent, and despite the world leading search interest for cryptos, the continent still lags behind the rest of the globe in everyday cryptocurrency use and adoption. The continent is home to over 50 percent of the world’s mobile money services, but while the use of internet has risen exponentially in the past twenty years, users from Africa account for just ten percent of the global total. I can personally attest to the challenge of internet connections across Africa. The connection is either poor, slow or even non-existent at times. At times, accessing internet on your handset for the mere purpose of communicating with people or even carrying out transactions becomes a challenge, and this is one of the reasons why most people in Africa are not as enthusiastic about cryptocurrencies. Some governments have been skeptical and reserved and, in some cases, unreceptive to the use of digital currencies. Countries such as Zimbabwe and Namibia have reportedly begun with a hard stance, and in Kenya, the central bank of Kenya has restricted the use of digital currencies because of their unregulated nature. Nigeria’s Central Bank has rejected the use of cryptocurrencies claiming that its citizens will be at risk of fraudulent schemes, but it is yet to release a whitepaper on their take. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-04-08-blockchain-and-cryptocurrency-regulation-in-africa/Another factor that holds back cryptocurrency use in Africa is that very often you will see Initial Coin Offerings targeting countries from literally all other continents BUT Africa. In cases where African countries are receptive to the idea of digital currency, most governments are slow with its adoption mainly because they fear for their young citizens or due to the crop of old leaders who cannot picture a future without paper cash. https://www.africa.com/cryptocurrency-regulation-africa-slowly-picking-up-the-pace/Adoption of cryptocurrencies is a work in progress for most African nations, but with time it could become the most used method of payment. I live for that day! |
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Decentralized finance is bound to offer solutions such as wider access to financial services where anyone with an internet connection and a smartphone could access financial services. Current centralization of financial institutions in Africa has caused about 350 million people to be unbanked due to their locations across the continent. It’s not only location but also incredibly high amounts of funds required to access financial services in most countries across Africa. This could be the solution to solve all of everyone’s economic currencies.
Another thing is that decentralized finance gets rid of costly intermediaries required to make remittance services more affordable for the African population. The high fees involved when sending money across borders hinders a lot of things including making it a challenge for Africans to get paid for work, they do with people abroad like for instance the common online writing jobs.
DEFI guarantees maximum privacy and security as a person will have control over their wealth and can carry out transactions without approval from third parties. Unbanked people in Africa ought to get all their financial problems solved now.
In such a system, transactions are immutable, and blockchains cannot be shut off by central institutions like central banks or elite corporations. Most Africans can relate to wanting to protect their wealth from government manipulation and hyperinflation, the likes of those in countries such as Zimbabwe.
The ease of use of this system is amazing. Imagine yourself, in Africa, for example, Kenya, receiving a loan from the U.S, investing in a business in Australia and then paying off all your debt and purchasing a house, all through interoperable apps!
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The Central Bank of Kenya has issued warnings to the citizens concerning the volatility of cryptocurrencies but some business in Nairobi, Kenya have started embracing Bitcoin as a means of payment. Estimation by the Blockchain Association of Kenya shows that the total number of Bitcoin transactions in Kenya is worth 1.5 million dollars. The big question is, can this technology take off? If you take a look at the number of people using virtual currencies in Kenya, its only 40,000. The main reason behind cryptocurrency not penetrating the Kenyan economy is regulations from the Central Bank. Kenyan banks are not allowed to open accounts for people dealing in any virtual currency, and this means that conversion of Bitcoin or Ethereum payments into fiat or mobile money has become extremely hard. Majority of Kenyans don’t use credit cards, and thus digital currency could come in handy given that all one requires is an electronic gadget and access to the internet. Blockchain Association of Kenya is actively working to educate the masses on the numerous benefits of adopting cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology. This non-profit body is trying to show Kenyans just how much using virtual currency can reduce transaction costs. The percentage of Kenyans who are unbanked could greatly benefit from this by being able to make and receive payments swiftly. Kenyans can be able to do so much from trading through Bitcoin, be it paying merchants for goods in China, or ensuring young African freelancers get paid for their work online in a very swift manner. I'm happy, cryptocurrencies are embraced in Kenya  |
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Cryptocurrencies could be the savior to African, as many currencies across the continent have suffered never known before levels of instability for years, with a slight sign of improvement. Let’s look at the South African Rand, which suffered its biggest drop in a decade in October. The biggest example, however, is Zimbabwe which has continually suffered hyperinflation and even at some point, a simple loaf of bread cost more than ten million Zimbabwean dollars, sad, right? https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/south-african-currency-rand-drops-2018/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45822166Africans are frustrated by declines in currencies and the option they are turning to is none other than cryptocurrencies as a financial alternative. Bitcoin, being the most common, has tumbled in price but the people are still resilient. This cryptocurrency craze poses as chance for the unbanked to access financial services and experience economic freedom. Given that Sub-Saharan Africa has the second-highest population of unbanked adults in the world, the cryptocurrency option could potentially revolutionize the entire African economy by targeting such individuals. Economic freedom is what everyone desires ultimately. https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-payment-firm-volume-of-transactions-in-africa-has-risen-130-percent-in-2018Poor internet connection and access in Africa could potentially slow down the growth of cryptocurrencies in Africa. Governments have a lot to do to make sure the continent will benefit from the fourth industrial revolution. It would be such a shame for a continent of 1.2 billion to not have the necessary infrastructure and technical knowledge to allow virtual money to flourish unrestrained. https://news.bitcoin.com/poor-internet-access-could-slow-down-cryptocurrency-growth-in-africa/Another factor that slows down adoption is regulations from some governments to the use of blockchain and cryptocurrencies in Africa. But despite the above-mentioned factors, the general population has absolutely no know-how on how to go about cryptocurrency exchanges. A small percentage of the population in my country for instance knows what Bitcoin is - We have several meet-ups Such as Bitcoin Kenya https://www.meetup.com/Kenya-Bitcoin/ with over 800 members meeting regularly - We try our best to educate our community on blockchain technology and its endless possibilities. |
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Africa’s regulators are opting for a “wait and see” approach on the cryptocurrency’s movement but either way, the younger generation form countries like Kenya, South Africa to Egypt have hopped on to the Bitcoin train, paying no attention the skepticism of regulators on the continent.
I’m Kenyan, and although the Kenyan government had initially disregarded the entire crypto movement, the appetite for digital currencies in the country remains very active. The president, last year, directed that a Blockchain and AI task force be created to further explore the use of blockchain and related technologies within our existing economic framework. Nigeria’s economy has been enjoying some stability over the last few months, and in 2018 the bank’s head revealed that he started looking into these currencies from a policy perspective.
In Ghana though, it’s a whole other situation with the Bank of Ghana announcing that the trading of cryptos such as Bitcoin not legal as it’s not recognized legal tender in the country. The situation in such African nations seems likely impossible, but hopefully with time, cryptocurrency will be adopted across the entire continent of Africa.
South African government though has been the friendliest to the Bitcoin ecosystem in Africa with the revenue arm of the South African government exploring ways in which cryptocurrency investments can be taxed properly.
Despite a majority of the governments taking the wait and see road, it seems like users across the continent are still persistent on cryptocurrency investments and regulatory authorities are either working to create policies, cashing in on the idea of issuing warnings against it.
I do believe Africa Blockchain potential still remains untapped, what do you think needs to be done to solve the Single biggest problem of Implementation?
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I have a problem and i believe several of my friends have this problem too, I own a-lot of ERC20 Tokens and Some Under Neo Platform - Start-ups like Polymath will start offering securities tokens and they say their market is huge which i believe.
Now managing this assets is a problem - No Single App or Website exists to help an investor manage his assets by pulling app data from this platforms and presenting them in a smart manner, something like Delta but more advanced.
Features i would like:
1. Apps pulls data from addresses - No manual input.
2. No wallet - Seriously
3. ICO and Bounties included
I’m sure this community can help and add more features they would love on the comments.
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In the current quirky world of Crypto, We believe and hope Bitcoin will become a global currency, one that we can spend on "Pizza" the same way we use Visa or MasterCard. What do you think needs to be done to make BlockChain technology a success ?
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Help me understand when the party will end . |
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Will update & Maintain Kenyan Blockchain adoption Journey on this thread.
