Will Africa be a good place for crypto?

[UconBit]

The success of digital wallets in the African continent was really great and based on what I've read on news articles about it, it really helped the economy and the businesses when it all started years ago.
With this in mind, will Africans be welcoming of bitcoin/altcoin as a real currency and not just a quick way to earn cash or invest? Like using it as real money / cash?

[1713532070]

1713532070

[1713532070]

1713532070

[stompix]

M-Pesa has nothing to do with cryptos and bitcoin, and the whole " Countries in Africa adopting cryptos" is such an overhyped theme people are getting bored of it.

It's been years since everybody was claiming each damn 3 world country be it from Asia or Africa, from Philipinne to Zimbabwe, Kenya to Vietnam will bring the new revolution and when articles like this came out some are still surprised about how reality, not hype works.

For god's sake, there are countries there where the illiteracy rate is above 60%!!! , we should talk about adopting an ABC not BTC.

[AdamRay]

I think the countries there are not enough to use Bitcoin as a major currency. I know that their country is struggling but making money on the Crypto market is a very difficult thing. Because if the investors do not have much money, they will become whale prey. it's true.

[amphibian]

Africa as a good place for crypto? Yes it would. Africa is a continent where some countries are ready to embrace good things. Ofcourse, banks are there to oppose certain things which are likely to pose their businesses to threat. Once africans realize crypto will fetch them money, they will quickly embrace it and work into crypto. However, in an instance where the money is keeping them to wait longer, trust me they will back off. Crypto will be good in Africa but the issue of patient can be a challenge.

[Rossy Akbar]

As always, any single country deserve to use bitcoin as to find some income or fix their economy system, but anyway success or not is back to the governments decission pretty much. African Continent was a very good area with a big chance of bitcoin to growth there.

[Lighthouze]

M-Pesa has nothing to do with cryptos and bitcoin, and the whole " Countries in Africa adopting cryptos" is such an overhyped theme people are getting bored of it.

It's been years since everybody was claiming each damn 3 world country be it from Asia or Africa, from Philipinne to Zimbabwe, Kenya to Vietnam will bring the new revolution and when articles like this came out some are still surprised about how reality, not hype works.

For god's sake, there are countries there where the illiteracy rate is above 60%!!! , we should talk about adopting an ABC not BTC.

I think I differ slightly on this stand. Africa might be a bit backwards in terms of the literacy levels, but it's still not left far behind in terms of technology and advancements. There seems to be a lot of focus on the cryptocurrencies which are the offshoots of the blockchain technology, this governments of these African countries and other developed countries for that matter are against.

But the blockchain techonology is gradually finding it's way into the reins of these countries. A country like Nigeria, where corruption is widespread, the country's Customs Agency is considering the application of blockchain technology in collection of imports duties, et al.
http://africanleadership.co.uk/nigeria-customs-service-adopts-oracle-blockchain-cloud-service/
So I won't be quick to right off Africa as a hub. There's significant progress made and with time, there will be more adoption around here. A lot of people are involved in crypto in these countries despite their government frowning at it, and the numbers are increasing

[The Sceptical Chymist]

M-Pesa has nothing to do with cryptos and bitcoin, and the whole " Countries in Africa adopting cryptos" is such an overhyped theme people are getting bored of it.

Since I don't really follow world news, I wasn't aware of the M-pesa thing in Kenya, so that was an interesting read (even though I despise CNN). 

I do agree that many countries have problems that won't be solved--or even helped--by bitcoin.  And you've got to ask yourself how a crypto as volatile as bitcoin is can help anyone living in poverty.  Sure, there are individuals in Africa and other impoverished areas of the world doing jobs like signature campaigns and the like, but I don't think any of them would choose to hold bitcoin over their local currency--unless they're doing it strictly as an investment.  For the average African, I don't think that's going to be the case (though I could be wrong).

Keep in mind that bitcoin isn't even 10 years old.  For a form of money, that's pretty young and it takes time for something as unique as crypto to gain acceptance--and even in the 3.5 years I've been into it, I've already seen advances as far as new merchants accepting it and an increase in popularity in countries like the Philippines.  With Africa, I'm sure it'll happen eventually.  I just don't think it's their priority right now.

[buwaytress]

M-Pesa has nothing to do with cryptos and bitcoin, and the whole " Countries in Africa adopting cryptos" is such an overhyped theme people are getting bored of it.

It's been years since everybody was claiming each damn 3 world country be it from Asia or Africa, from Philipinne to Zimbabwe, Kenya to Vietnam will bring the new revolution and when articles like this came out some are still surprised about how reality, not hype works.

For god's sake, there are countries there where the illiteracy rate is above 60%!!! , we should talk about adopting an ABC not BTC.

I'm all for promoting the use of Bitcoin in developing countries too, and where there are suitable as alternatives, all the better, but they (Bitcoin and others or say blockchain) are not the all-encompassing solution.

Myself, coming from a state where my people only just broke the 50% literacy rate in 2017, I can't agree more that we still need to tackle the roots of whatever issues are facing these economies first. Blockchain is not the answer to everything, and shouldn't blind us to root problems of education and other inequalities.

[craigjoseph504]

Cryptocurrencies are still not much populair in Africa, at least not in the way they are populair in Europe or USA.

[dothebeats]

I would say no, simply because there are lots of countries in Africa that still haven't adopted good education and not even a lot of people out there have access to the internet. M-pesa is a different thing, and though digital wallets made life better for some Africans, there aren't any assurances that bitcoin would do the same for them. Some people look at bitcoin as some sort of miraculous tool to lift people from poverty, which simply is not the case. Perhaps they might have a shot at using services that were exclusive for the banked people but that's just it (at least in the way I see it).

[St4yInTh3D4rk]

There is no need to have a master degree for using the crypto currencies so the educational level is not important for any country to adopt the crypto currency.Only thing is where people ready to accept the decentralization and much have internet connection.

[Gozie51]

I think the countries there are not enough to use Bitcoin as a major currency.

I think this won't be correct to say of any continent. Those technologically underdeveloped countries don't live in isolation of their own. They trade with other countries and get acculturated. So I wonder how they won't be able to use bitcoin when others are using it.

[player514]

M-Pesa has nothing to do with cryptos and bitcoin, and the whole " Countries in Africa adopting cryptos" is such an overhyped theme people are getting bored of it.

It's been years since everybody was claiming each damn 3 world country be it from Asia or Africa, from Philipinne to Zimbabwe, Kenya to Vietnam will bring the new revolution and when articles like this came out some are still surprised about how reality, not hype works.

For god's sake, there are countries there where the illiteracy rate is above 60%!!! , we should talk about adopting an ABC not BTC.

As much as I find the last statement you make here pretty crude, it's in a sense true. Niger itself has a 19.1% literacy rate. 1 in 5 people are considered literate. I wouldn't be surprised if this is tied to the fact that the country is not as urban as it can be -- there might be a lot of people living in villages.

If that's the case (that many countries have a lot of village life), how can we expect them to grasp the concept of BTC? Urbanization takes time, and it's likely that there are some villages that don't use any technology and use food and grain as currency instead. Maybe some of the more urban areas in Africa could adopt crypto, but I don't think it's the best place crypto could be housed at.

[Sarastiche]

Yes Africa migth be a place for cryptocurrency, base on it populations, but the present state  of development is a disadvantage to the development of  crypto, presently most Africa countris are still tag as developing countries, base on the technological developmet and economic status, most do not have access to internet facilities and electricity is still not stable, this are core need for cryptocurrency to be viable.

[HabBear]

The success of digital wallets in the African continent was really great and based on what I've read on news articles about it, it really helped the economy and the businesses when it all started years ago.
With this in mind, will Africans be welcoming of bitcoin/altcoin as a real currency and not just a quick way to earn cash or invest? Like using it as real money / cash?

Sure, it depends on the application. How do you plan to use cryptocurrency in the continent?

A few benefits that cryptocurrency offers Africa:

• Prevalance of mobile phones, despite broad low wealth communities
• Cryptocurrency's efficient use of micro payments, which suits the smaller funds flow that may be typical in the poorer communities
• Protection or hedge against fiat currency inflation, which is subject to government and geo-political risk

[ripthesystem]

I think Cryptohype in Africa is caused by believe that Cryptocurrency may help troubled economy to improve. In reality it is vice versa, as Crypto has all chances to change situation for the worst.

[ylnar123]

The success of digital wallets in the African continent was really great and based on what I've read on news articles about it, it really helped the economy and the businesses when it all started years ago.
With this in mind, will Africans be welcoming of bitcoin/altcoin as a real currency and not just a quick way to earn cash or invest? Like using it as real money / cash?

Just like any other country, it is not easy to accept crypto to be part of their real currency because of the conflict of financing in the nation. Africa may not be a rich country but they could still be a good place for cryptocurrency.

[ibrayzorhaf]

Maybe for now to receive crypro for the African continent is not suitable because of the low economic stability and low human resources. this shows it's not good to apply on the African continent .

[aoluain]

Africa if it can be classed as an emerging market could be a good place fror crypto
but only in the urban centres and by people with disposable incomes which i suspect
are currently in the minority.

Much of africa is producing precious gems and metals yet the majority of people are
illiterate and impoverished by western standards, how exactly is crypto going to help?
im not so sure.

There are a lot of historical problems and stats which stack up against Africa in general
im not sure crypto can right all the wrongs, some wiki reading >

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_Africa

This report from bloomberg predicts something very healthy for the future though and
is linked to China. If things progress as China is banking on well then Crypto could in fact
become the most important place for crypto.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-21/africa-economy-west-should-try-to-match-chinese-investment

[Anarchist]

The success of digital wallets in the African continent was really great and based on what I've read on news articles about it, it really helped the economy and the businesses when it all started years ago.
With this in mind, will Africans be welcoming of bitcoin/altcoin as a real currency and not just a quick way to earn cash or invest? Like using it as real money / cash?

People have no money. You can invent any type of payment solution if there is no money, everything is useless.