Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions

[pawel7777]

Already posted this in Press board, but think it's worth the main board.

You don't often see CNN saying positive things about Bitcoin, but here it is:

Breaking the bank: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/17/business/bitcoin-africa-unbanked/

CNN Marketplace Africa covers the macro trends impacting the region and also focuses on the continent's key industries and corporations.

(CNN)Money makes the world go round, they say, but what if notes and coins were replaced with online code?

Bitcoin -- the world's much talked about cryptocurrency -- is just that. It can't be printed, it can't be directly controlled by governments or central banks, but it can be sent around the world instantly at a low cost.

And in sub-Saharan Africa, where 75% of the population don't have a bank account, experts say the currency could help millions of people pay bills and get to grips with their finances.

Transferring cash via a bank or a Money Transfer Operator (MTOs) like Western Union or MoneyGram can be costly. According to the Overseas Development Institute, the average charge to transfer $200 to Africa using traditional money transfer services is 12%. If you send $200, you pay $24. The ODI added up all the transfers that happen in a year, and found remittance fees cost the African continent $1.8 billion a year.

What if that money could be spent on things, rather than fees?

As Bitcoin is a virtual peer-to-peer currency -- designed to operate on the border-less internet -- the costs of transferring money can be radically cheaper than traditional methods, and the process is much quicker.

"Bitcoin can greatly alter the remittances industry and beyond," says Michael Kimani, who heads the African Digital Currency Association, a Kenya-based group launched last May to promote digital currency technologies. "From seven days [for a transaction to clear] using banks & PayPal, down to 20 minutes speaks volumes."

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[cellard]

Finally, positive press of BTC after all this exchange shit, good to see.

[Q7]

Cnn seems to be bitcoin friendly. The documentary done by Morgan Spurlock about living only on bitcoin was great and now we have this.

[AgentofCoin]

Cnn seems to be bitcoin friendly. The documentary done by Morgan Spurlock about living only on bitcoin was great and now we have this.

Was great? Past-tense? Have you seen it early?

[bryant.coleman]

Cnn seems to be bitcoin friendly. The documentary done by Morgan Spurlock about living only on bitcoin was great and now we have this.

I doubt that. Check their coverage of the SR and SR 2.0 scandals. IMO, Russia Today is much more pro-Bitcoin, when compared to CNN or BBC.

http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2013/10/24/bitcoin/?iid=EL

http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/25/news/economy/bitcoins-silk-road/

[Guido]

remittance market will be decimated by crypto in time

it deserves this, had it too good for too long

western union shareholders will be bagholders

[bryant.coleman]

remittance market will be decimated by crypto in time

Western Onion became too greedy. They charge as much as 15% to transfer money to Africa. I don't know whether crypto will replace them, but I am sure that this sick corporation is going to die off very soon.

[pitham1]

Money transmitters will soon start lobbying to put regulations in place for these remittances.
They have too much at stake to give up easily.

[ChuckBuck]

Cnn seems to be bitcoin friendly. The documentary done by Morgan Spurlock about living only on bitcoin was great and now we have this.

Was great? Past-tense? Have you seen it early?

Watched it last night!  It was pretty awesome to say the least.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLxhI81Flvk

Watched it last night on CNN and again on Youtube...overall positive views and tone, and well done by Morgan Spurlock.

[ChuckBuck]

How can africa adopt bitcoins if they are porn and cant afford smartphones and good computers?

They might not have iPhones, Nexus, HTC's, or Galaxies out in Africa, but they do have cheap basic mobile phones that have limited service for texting even in the poorest of Nations.

They're already doing this with M Pesa since 2007

http://www.vodafone.com/content/index/about/about-us/money_transfer.html

and the natural evolution would be to BitPesa

https://www.bitpesa.co/

With smartphones getting cheaper and cheaper, this could be the thing that really makes Bitcoin the first global currency.

[RodeoX]

How can africa adopt bitcoins if they are porn and cant afford smartphones and good computers?

Smartphones are common in the developing world. In many places they skipped the land line phase and went straight to cell towers. Bitcoin is a natural in Africa. Many Africans already use cell phone minutes as a currency. "Want to buy that chicken? Text me 2 hours of talk time." Weird but true.   

[pawel7777]

How can africa adopt bitcoins if they are porn and cant afford smartphones and good computers?

Let me reply with Kprawn's post from the same topic in press board:

I have done some contract work in Africa, and people might be amazed how innovative some of these people are. Do not for one moment think that these people are illiterate idiots sitting around a fire in front of their huts... you will be VERY wrong.

Yes, they do not have cable internet and fiber optic connections to every house, but what they lack in infrastructure, they make up with innovative alternatives.

They have also dealt with digital currencies in the form of M-pesa running on cellphones... so you would feel like a idiot abroad, if they ask you cash or M-pesa and you know nothing about it.

The only difference between the UK / USA and Africa is the accessability of modern infrastructure and good education. The will to learn is there, but the investment capital to fund infrastructure lack behind.

The environment is also difficult, with many traditions and cultural differences, but in the end, we are all human. {albeit Robert Mugabe -- He might be a alien}  

The introduction to Bitcoin might just be easier, than most people think, with their background with M-pesa.

[countryfree]

It's a huge opportunity for sure, but Africa still needs exchanges where someone can convert his/her BTC into cash or send it to a Mpesa account.

[yayayo]

It's a huge opportunity for sure, but Africa still needs exchanges where someone can convert his/her BTC into cash or send it to a Mpesa account.

Yes there's a lot of opportunity. But I'm skeptical if there's real progress. I've been reading similar news since almost 2 years, yet not much is happening.

I don't know if conversion is really the most needed service. Bitcoin could easily function as a full currency in Africa, since a lot of people are accustomed to use foreign currencies anyway, because their nation's currency is subject to rampant inflation. So I think what's needed most are simple 2G-phone compatible Bitcoin services.

ya.ya.yo!

[Bizmark13]

How can africa adopt bitcoins if they are porn and cant afford smartphones and good computers?

It's only a matter of time before even the poorest of nations have widespread access to smartphones and good computers. Moore's law is a wonderful thing. In 2010, it was pretty damn near impossible to find a smartphone for under $200 here. In fact, this was the phone I bought in 2010:



I was able to buy it for $200 and it was selling for $250 elsewhere. It had a tiny resistive touch screen, 240x360 resolution, no Android, no wifi, and wasn't even a smartphone despite its looks:

Despite this, it was one of the cheapest phones with a touch screen at the time.

Today, that same $200-250 will get you this magnificent beauty:



That's a 5" HD screen with quad cores, 8 MP rear camera + 2 MP front camera, and running the latest version of Android.

Even the $80-100 phones are pretty good (in fact, this is my current smartphone):



And here's what $30-50 will get you (still better than my 5 year old $200 phone):



The latest Raspberry Pi is 6 times more powerful than its predecessor, features 1 GB of RAM and a quad core processor, will run the latest Windows 10, and only costs $35. I've seen tablets with HD screens and dual core processors go for under $80.

As I said, it's only a matter of time.

[Madness]

Nice , Finally the media isn't trying to screw Bitcoin's Reputation by the Silk Road bullshits and whatever illegal you can do with Bitcoin .
Btw when they say Africa , any specified countries ?  I live in North Africa (Algeria) but there is no such informations about this .

~ Madness

[Brewins]

Nice , Finally the media isn't trying to screw Bitcoin's Reputation by the Silk Road bullshits and whatever illegal you can do with Bitcoin .
Btw when they say Africa , any specified countries ?  I live in North Africa (Algeria) but there is no such informations about this .

~ Madness

Article says Sub Saharan Africa.

[deepestfear]

Awesome piece, can't wait to watch how it all plays out

[Daniel91]

It's about the time finally that media accept reality, that bitcoin is superior to any other ways to send funds abroad.
I guess, they had to accept obvious fact that for the people in Africa, without bank accounts, bitcoin is really God's blessing.
Hope to see more positive reports soon

[moni3z]

The big remittance corps have a monopoly on African transfers
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/aug/18/global-remittance-industry-choking-billions-developing-world

Case in point, Somali competition to WU/MG was just killed 2 days ago by numerous banks threatening the survival of millions relying on xfers to areas without WU coverage http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/19/us-somalia-money-remittances-idUSKBN0LN0GN20150219

Barclays and Westpac have also dumped all competitors to WU/MG to xfers to Somalia. Of course this means business opportunity for somebody living in a country without these bans and is a Dahabshiil  agent. Accept bitcoin payment from diaspora Somalis in US/UK/Aus and 3rd party xfer the money to Somalia via Dahabshiil.