[2016-10-27] Bitcoin Funding & Education For Zimbabwean Farmers

[foserfox]

BitMari, the Pan-African Bitcoin wallet provider, is trying to popularize Bitcoin in the Zimbabwean region. Currently, the startup is working with the Zimbabwe Women Farmers Accelerator to raise cryptocurrency funds for the group’s cause.

The startup BitMari is on a mission to leverage Bitcoin and blockchain protocols in order to streamline remittances to Africa from its diaspora. The company was founded in June of 2015 by Christopher Mapondera and Sinclair Skinner.

BitMari is currently working through regulatory policy across the region to lay the groundwork for its application services. In the meantime, the startup has started a crowdfund of US$22,500 to support Zimbabwean women farmers.

BitMari’s crowdfunding goal is to raise Bitcoin for a hundred local women farmers in the Zimbabwean region. The mission is to issue BitMari wallets to ten farmers across ten provinces while removing third party intervention.

https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-funding-zimbabwean-farmers/

[yayayo]

BitMari is currently working through regulatory policy across the region to lay the groundwork for its application services. In the meantime, the startup has started a crowdfund of US$22,500 to support Zimbabwean women farmers.

Honestly, they are working through regulatory policy in a country that has no generally respected rule of law? Good luck with that!

Also, I fail to understand, why providing ten farmers with Bitcoin wallets is such a big deal. Maybe the main problem will be on the educational side, but doubts remain that this semi-charity "startup" is just serving its founders. I also don't see why it would make sense to provide Bitcoin funds to people in this region who have no practical use for it, because there are no businesses were they would be able to spend their funds.

Besides the widespread corruption and educational deficits, the primary problem for Bitcoin adoption in Africa is the lack of IT infrastructure and excessively high costs for mobile internet access if it is available at all.

ya.ya.yo!