Africa needs bitcoin, not a charity

[franky1]

bitcoins tx fee just to move funds costs ~20minutes to 1 hours minimum wage.
many africans learn about bitcoin. find out it isnt suitable and just use it as a gateway into altcoins which are cheaper and more suitable to transact with.

The same thing will happen in the western world when the price of bitcoin goes about a certain level.  Probably $100,000 (a million?) Hard to say really, but with only 21 million bitcoins the likelihood of everyone owning bitcoins will get further and further beyond the reach of most people.  Altcoins will have their place alongside bitcoin which will act as a clearing house for larger size transactions which is why in Africa bitcoins adoption is unlikely to occure anytime soon.

by gateway i dont mean clearing house. i mean learning experience. buzzwords, definitions. .. they will use bitcoin as a gateway to learning not a gateway payment

bitcoin wont be a clearing house for altcoins. people will just altcoin to fiat direct without btc as middleman.
do you really think people will use bitcoin as a 'clearing house' if it costs $20 a tx... when they could just fiat to altcoin for pennies without involving bitcoin.

this is where the bitcoin core devs should have stuck to coding a fee formula,rather that pretending they re expert economists and taking out fee mechanisms to introduce a fee war

think about it. if you have a bunch of nickles and dimes in a bag and you want to swap it for a bank note. would you bother swapping the small denomination coins for gold and then swap again to bank notes.

[Lily_Olive]

It really depends to which part you're referring to. If we take North African countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, etc. then bitcoin is already being widely used and also definitely needed.

If you are talking about some parts of Africa where people don't even know how to eat, I'm sorry to say, but personally, I wouldn't be interested in hearing about BTC. You should know that these people are not educated, and even though it's easy to say that the price will skyrocket, etc. they simply can't afford the risk and the price's volatility.

Yeah it totally depends on which parts of africa they are saying.. this is very important  to know that..

[Kakmakr]

I travel in Africa a lot for my work and I can tell you that M-Pesa is doing very well there and the people saying that the lack of education will be a stumbling block, would change their mind when they see the younger generation paying with M-Pesa for items in a small Spaza shop.

The problem with M-Pesa is the centralized control and reliance on the cellular companies to facilitate these transactions.  They need someone to develop hardware that makes BTC micro payment without the need of mobile networks and it should be very cheap to buy and to do tx's on these devices. 

[acroman08]

I think a possibility of crypto would ease the life of many africans, this privelege would give a great benefit for them, not talking about the development


The article: https://www.cio.co.ke/africa-needs-bitcoin-not-charity/

in some, yes, but all? no, Poor parts of Africa needs a Government that would;d make a difference for it's people. It is great that in the article they talk about educating people about bitcoin through "campus tours" where they teach basic knowledge of bitcoin such as buying, trading, exchanging etc... but they should also know that not everyone where they do these "campus tours" are educated(I.e. read, write) they can teach all these stuff about bitcoin but it will only benefit those who has an education and can understand the basics of bitcoin.

[jonas5222000]

yes but i think they need too more development about them because most of them are not like the other that can afford or can eat regularly..but im sure that if bitcoin will grow on them, it will give them a help.

[omone1]

I am an African, I learnt about bitcoin without any single help from anyone, all the persons I meant online all hoarded information from me. Currently, only few persons actually know about bitcoin in my area, I have taught hundreds of persons how  bitcoin work via a Whatsaap groups, and I keep offering free services even though I currently can't burst of any bitcoin in my wallet because I had use my fund for marriage last year. This not withstanding has not stop me from offering free lectures, I want people to understand that there is a better life outside what the fraudulent banking system offers.

I currently sell bible and motivation books, but have not been getting patronage due to lack of funds to stock goods, so at my office, I invite people to learn how bitcoin work for free, with time, I will start holding free seminars when I make some money enough to host such events. I have saved a lot of persons from buying scam coins in my country and keep doing that. Africa don't need charity fund but quality education and sound leadership. We have more than enough natural  resources but a major part is wasting and the rest are been embezzled by bad governance.

[maldini]

I know about Africa where many people experience social inequality. And yes I know that bitcoin can handle it, but here the problem is the development of technology there. In Africa there are so many people who are not familiar with technology, even the average purchase of internet services is considered very expensive, then what about getting to know bitcoin.
The African government did legalize crypto but unfortunately the government did not develop well.

[Nawrod]

Africa needs help, and this help my take a very different forms. I believe it's not good idea to point only one solution. It might end like in Venezuela case

[drumamat]

Bitcoin is needed not only in Africa,but the whole planet.It is difficult for me to comment on the situation with bitcoin in Africa because I do not have information about what is happening there.Judging by the latest news that are associated with the creation of their own cryptocurrency from the social network Facebook,Africans for the widespread use of cryptocurrencies will need only one smartphone.

[thesmallgod]

The influence bitcoin has brought in term of offering a source of income is bigger than the influence most African countries governments have on the economy. E.g. In some country like Nigeria, 7 out of 10 Graduates are unemployed but cryptocurrency has given many people opportunities to earn little savings by taking menial online Jobs and mini importation business. But despite the influence, The central bank has been warning people to keep away from crypto. terming it as ponzi scheme.

[BrewMaster]

to use bitcoin there needs to be a decent structure in place first before people can adopt it and use it. for starters you need a good internet connection, you also need people to have computers, smartphones ,... to be able to send and receive payments.
in most parts of Africa like many other underdeveloped countries this structure is not in place. so even when those people get into bitcoin they get into it as an investment which is not helping anyone.
not to mention that bitcoin is just a tool it is not meant to fix all the problems of the world

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

Please don't misunderstand the intial purpose of bitcoin's creation. It was created to give back power to the massive, it was created so you can have control over your funds by not entrusting the service of 3rd party systems [e.g banks, credit card service providers, Facebook coin aka Libra etc] when carryout a transaction or storing your funds.

Bitcoin purpose isn't meant for charity or helping the poor get rich as many individuals have presume it to be. It's a payment system and it should be seen that way. Any other bonuses that comes from holding bitcoin like price gain etc shouldn't overshadow bitcoin's Initial purpose of creation.

I didn't bother reading the redirected link as I hate getting redirected out of the forum so I don't get what OP means by choosing this title but I assume he meant charity isn't helping Africa (true) but bitcoin will i.e in the aspect of giving them financial freedom. Well if you mean financial freedom in regards to having control over you wealth, I do agree but if you mean bitcoin will give Africans wealth (I disagree) as Initially Africa have the resources to be the wealthiest continent but lack the knowledge/resources to control the wealth therefore they're getting bullied by those who have the knowledge, same thing will happen with bitcoin unless they get educated on the technology itself.
 
Also it's the financial system of the world in general that needs bitcoin and not just Africans as many assume.

[jak3]

I do believe bitcoin will be the best choice for Africa as a charity will barely reach the good hands. as we know poor countries are much more affected by the dark side of the world as doing bad stuff or trading illegal goods are one of the selfish act they try to do which is completely natural. but it is possible that bitcoin will also be used for bad instead of good as if bitcoin is used to smuggling or anything like those they will become undetectable.

[Ressurection]

how would it help alleviate financial problems in Africa when most of them really don't understand it. Don't get me wrong but many African countries are already labelling cryptocurrencies as scams so how on earth would it help them. You tell me.

[XCANA]

how would it help alleviate financial problems in Africa when most of them really don't understand it. Don't get me wrong but many African countries are already labelling cryptocurrencies as scams so how on earth would it help them. You tell me.

Yes they labelled cryptocurrency as scam becasue they never understand the terms been use in cryptocurrency. Education is the problem of the Africans and when they overcome illiteracy then they can believe the world of cryptocurrency and move toward it adoption. Also, remember that in Africa, we have population that the world need and also, the world of cryptocurrency.

[Leh-Meh]

All the big gamblers/HYIP, Las Vegas are in USA. Africa is famous for its wildlife which is multi-billion dollars business/year.

[Slow death]

mozambique  minimum wage $50 a month (/4/40=$0.31 an hour)

to be more exact the minimum wage in my country (Mozambique) is $70


OP, as some people have already said, Africa is very poor and most people will prefer to buy food than buy bitcoin.

I will give you an example of my country, in my country there is a group of very rich people, these people can buy many bitcoins, but 80% of the population of my country will not have  $100 to buy bitcoin, because $100 is money for them to live for 30 days, and that $100 is not enough to feed a family for 30 days.

My father was high-ranking military (my father was a general) and my mother is business woman.

But I see how corruption is destroying and increasing the poverty of my country and of Africa.

What Africa needs is end corruption and dictatorship.

[Nhebu]

In Africa, most entrepreneurs do not have access to formal banks and venture capital in the first place. They often lack access to financial markets and financial instruments such as savings, credit and insurance, which would enable them to engage in economic activity and help their countries achieve sustainable financial growth. Good thing is that they have an access to mobile phone. This will increase financial access to those who would otherwise be completely excluded from the traditional banking system – for example, those working in the informal sector, in villages, or who have too little capital to make formal banking a feasible option.

[Yakamoto]

In Africa, most entrepreneurs do not have access to formal banks and venture capital in the first place. They often lack access to financial markets and financial instruments such as savings, credit and insurance, which would enable them to engage in economic activity and help their countries achieve sustainable financial growth. Good thing is that they have an access to mobile phone. This will increase financial access to those who would otherwise be completely excluded from the traditional banking system – for example, those working in the informal sector, in villages, or who have too little capital to make formal banking a feasible option.

On the topic of lacking the capital to start enterprises, there are some foundations/companies which are offering "microloans" for small businesses in the developing world. While it might be difficult for them to access financial institutions, there's got to at least be one enterprising citizen within the African continent who will try to expend those services to the more rural portions of their country as well.

While I don't know what the level of communication infrastructure is in Africa, I feel that Bitcoin would be offering a unique solution for entrepreneurs who want to develop their country's financial infrastructure. While security is always a concern, the lack of a tangible good (cash) helps to move in secrecy and improves personal security. Credit and savings operations could be maintained by the same individuals who run the Bitcoin "banks", and as long as they don't commit the same sins of fractional reserve banking everyone can prosper. It might be a very slow "industrialization" of Africa, but I'm sure that more advanced infrastructure can slowly be developed and branch from the existing major cities.

If you are interested in the concept of microloans, the one website which I have found to be pretty good is kiva .org. It might be worth looking into it as a means of supporting the developing world and getting a small return in the same beat. It's better than Bitcoin loans in terms of repayment (assuming the ~97% repayment statement is factual), at least.

[Indrawan77]

Yeah bitcoin could save the underdeveloped countries in Africa but the problem lies in the infrastructure, in the very poor region some of them are illiterate and doesn't got any access to Internet, so they can't rely on bitcoin to save their life, but I agree that charity is not the solution, they need something that they can rely on for long term