How Africans Can Utilize Bitcoin...

[avikz]

Africans can use bitcoin just the same we do in any other country. It was never advisable to spend your valuable bitcoin for buying groceries or mobile recharge.

I have seen there are many local exchangers available for Africa in localbitcoin. They can simply exchange their bitcoin for their local money and utilize it for betterment.

[pogress]

As far as i know, many areas in African is still underdeveloped & i doubt people who lives there have internet connection or at least a smartphone.

I also think OP mean underdeveloped places which lacks internet. For Bitcoin to be useable you need good infrastructure, not just internet connection, but also people in the area using online shopping often because this is where Bitcoin can be used very easily. So in the end you need good road infrastructure as well. So for the underdeveloped areas there is no use for Bitcoin, there is reason Bitcoin is sometimes called "internet money".

[countryfree]

What would be your advise to most Africans to Utilize Bitcoin.

As elsewhere, BTC is a smart way to keep some of your savings, but it's even more worthwhile in African countries which do not have a strong currency. But BTC will remain a difficult option for many in Africa because of poor Internet connections.

[asriloni]

As far as i know, many areas in African is still underdeveloped & i doubt people who lives there have internet connection or at least a smartphone.

That's right I event reading some information about Africa. in there, the internet connection and smartphone is become a rare thing in there. Average the people in Africa is poor and they are not enough capable to using the internet because it's very expensive for them.

[jerowacik]

I think Africa has not been able to apply bitcoin in life. because bitcoin requires many means of technologically devices, such as smartphones, computers and internet access. and that's not evenly distributed in the area africa.

[ASHLIUSZ]

I think Africa has not been able to apply bitcoin in life. because bitcoin requires many means of technologically devices, such as smartphones, computers and internet access. and that's not evenly distributed in the area africa.

Satellite was slow and expensive.  As a consequence of the scarce overall bandwidth provided by cable connections, a large section of Internet traffic in Africa goes through expensive satellite links. In general, thus, the cost of Internet access is unaffordable by most of the population. So bitcoin usage is also difficult.

[uname]

I think Africa has not been able to apply bitcoin in life. because bitcoin requires many means of technologically devices, such as smartphones, computers and internet access. and that's not evenly distributed in the area africa.

I think not only the African people though. there are many people who can not spend bitcoin them directly or can not use bitcoin directly

[Yakamoto]

Assuming that Africa has enough developed infrastructure and has enough people connected to the internet, it is entire possible for Africans to start using Bitcoin.

My advice is that people help to get more of the population connected to the internet, teach them about things and how the internet works, teach them about scams and everything. Once that happens, start to get some businesses going that accept Bitcoin locally, and then you should start to see some growth occurring.

[MyBTT]

Tell them to save as much as possible. Because anything the invest will in time go up in value. It's a good great investment.

[Strongkored]

I think not only the African people though. there are many people who can not spend bitcoin them directly or can not use bitcoin directly

Yeah, almost an average of bitcoin users do not spend it in the form of bitcoin. Because of the scarcity of physical stores that accept bitcoin, especially in developing countries who are new to bitcoin. And most people redeem bitcoin be fiat to be spent. Thanks

[pooya87]

bitcoin as in any other country is a global currency so it is the same for everybody to use bitcoin online or even start an offline business. in a country like Africa if there is not enough places to buy/sell bitcoin you can even be the first to start an exchange service with the local fiat and this way increase the bitcoin usage too.

[franky1]

to people in africa i would say

welcome to mastercard 2.0
bitcoin users want to think that your african hourly wage is just spam, also 10%-50% of your minimum wage is good value as a transaction fee, just to use bitcoin.

bitcoin has moved into corporate america's hands(narrow minded and short sighted) and is no longer helpful to average africans. only the "nigerian princes"(scammer, conmen and money grabbers) will take advantage of bitcoin.
sorry you missed the boat, but like 200 years ago, maybe its a good thing


P.S
i say this after spending a couple years actually promoting bitcoin to the unbanked and seen how those that use it actually respond and talk about it, listening to their concerns and try to find out solutions to get around their objections.. but ultimately.. my statement is the summary for those african unbanked community

[Kakmakr]

Well remittance services are very expensive, and a lot of Africans are working in foreign countries and they have to pay  premium fees to Western Union and MoneyGram to get that money converted. Bitcoin can be send with virtually no fees, and it can be exchanged and paid into your bank account without any problems.

People from rural villages can access their money from smart phones and even use it for trade and as a alternative payment option, if the local banking services < ATM's > are far away. Most areas in Africa have Cellphone reception these days and a lot are done to get free internet access to these areas. ^smile^

[alani123]

They can't.

[franky1]

Well remittance services are very expensive, and a lot of Africans are working in foreign countries and they have to pay  premium fees to Western Union and MoneyGram to get that money converted. Bitcoin can be send with virtually no fees, and it can be exchanged and paid into your bank account without any problems.

People from rural villages can access their money from smart phones and even use it for trade and as a alternative payment option, if the local banking services < ATM's > are far away. Most areas in Africa have Cellphone reception these days and a lot are done to get free internet access to these areas. ^smile^

?? virtually no fee's ??
to america 11cents is not "virtually free".
to africa 11cents definetly not "virtually free" infact it can be an hours minimum wage

putting aside propoganda and instead using real life scenarios
you do realise some africans who work in america get paid fiat.. they have to convert it to bitcoin at a commission.(many localbitcoin traders add over 1%)
dont believe me, this over 1% also occurs on the main central exchanges too, go check out the differences of many exchanges.. at a average $600 price point many exchanges are $3-$6 different(0.5-1%) in value compared to the competitors and thats just the spread. thats before you include the trade order fee, withdrawal fee.. thus the costs are over 1%

they then need to send that bitcoin to relatives in america(11cent onchain tx fee). and that relative needs to find an exchanger to convert it to mpesa or other local african currencies.
so sending $60 to africa would cost once you factor in everything $1

even if you convinced an african village to be pure bitcoin currency(no need to convert to local mpesa).. every transaction is still ~11cents

11cents in many african countries/area's is upto an hours minimum wage.

im sorry but reality vs hope differ. sorry but its true
bitcoin really needs to address this and stop falling into the western capitalist market of expensive fees and restrictive use simply because africans wanting to move an hours wage is "spam".. its even getting to the point even in america, trying to move $7 is becoming "spam"
many people dont want bitcoin to be used by people that want to move just a couple dollars (their mindset: btc= reserve currency not local electronic cash)

thus trying to enable an open currency for africa, india etc wont be a bitcoin achievement if bitcoin doesnt change and grow

P.S
its better to say bitcoin remittance is CHEAPER than mainstream fiat remittance, but never say virtually free.. as thats false advertising

EG
american relative wants to send you 1 day of their wage($60) which is ~ 3 months of minimum wage in gambia, but will cost you an hours wage in gambia every time you transfer bitcoin to other people so it might be better to take a hit of 6 hours minimum wage and convert bitcoin into local gambian currency and avoid using bitcoin for everything you want to buy each day as that would end up costing you more than 6 hours over the 3 months

[davis196]

What would be your advise to most Africans to Utilize Bitcoin.

I`m not sure if many africans  even have a computer.

Without computers and internet connection,without electricity it`s impossible for them

to utilize bitcoin.

[Herbert2020]

What would be your advise to most Africans to Utilize Bitcoin.

I`m not sure if many africans  even have a computer.
Without computers and internet connection,without electricity it`s impossible for them
to utilize bitcoin.

i agree that things aren't as good in Africa as it is in other countries in technology front  but it is not as bad as you may thing. read this comment posted by OmegaStarScream above here and also you can use google to find that people are actually using bitcoin there.

[Mzie]

using and utilizing are two different things

[Daniel91]

What would be your advise to most Africans to Utilize Bitcoin.

Yes, it will be great idea for them, both for faster and more secured payments and also as investment.
Unfortunately, in many African countries there is no basic conditions to start using bitcoin.
Many of them have no access to Internet, no electricity, language barriers, no education etc.
It's great idea but I don't think that Africa have foundation for it right now.

 

[leowonderful]

Just like everyone else- IF they have internet, computer access, and more of the basic necessities. Most countries in Africa don't have subpar- if not nonexistent- internet. For these reasons, and the fact that no Internet =/= Bitcoin is basically unknown. A paper wallet could be used for purchases and such, though, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as they have Internet and computer access.