Mr. Rakesh Sharma, a business and technology journalist opines that despite the fact Africa is rarely mentioned among the cryptocurrency markets, it is likely to gain advantage over the other markets. He adds that citizens who come from countries within Africa that experience high inflation rates, may venture into the cryptocurrency world as it is the solution to the unreliable bank policies.
The leading altcoins in Africa are Bitcoin, Monero, Litecoin, Lisk, Dash, XRP, and the recently launched World Causecoin, though Bitcoin takes the lead. According to gobitcoin.io, the leading countries in Africa that are using Bitcoin are Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Botswana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.
Several crypto-related services in Africa have emerged, evidence that Africans are embracing the new virtual currency. These services include Geopay in South Africa, Abra in Morocco and Malawi, Bitman in Zimbabwe, and the London–based Kobocoin that was launched in Nigeria by Felix Onemechi Ogoji a Nigerian entrepreneur. There is also a mobile app known as Plaas App that enables farmers, through Blockchain to manage their stock.
Mr. Sharma reports that there are some 15 operations related to cryptocurrency in Africa that began over a year ago, an example is the Luno exchange, which was established in 2013 in South Africa and the first to operate in Africa. Luno exchange now hosts over 1.5 million customers worldwide.
In Kenya, localBitcoin.com reported that as at of 2017 December, more than $1.8 million was traded. This shows the viability of the business. Bitpesa, also from Kenya, was established in the year 2013. The virtual remittance facilitates transfers, to and from mobile wallets between individuals in Africa and the rest of the world.
There is also the World Causecoin, a crypto that focuses on creating abundance for all through Cause Capitalism. As defined by Steve Down, the founder of Financially Fit for Africa, Cause Capitalism is where a for-profit company partners with a non-profit company not as a gimmick but as a true sustainable partner.
Steve Down also the founder of World Causecoin, opines that the altcoin (Causecoin) is Bitcoin with a human face. He says that World Causecoin aims to finance cause projects in Africa. This will help reduce the gap between the rich and the poor by redistributing the world’s wealth to the less privileged to enable them to meet their basic needs. Therefore 2% of every WORLD Causecoin that has been bought or traded, will be matched to a non-profit project. The 2% will aid to finance charitable projects like the Goat Foundation that has already set in Kenya, where widows are given a pair of goats; build several maternity and children hospitals across Africa; Food for Africa which aims to provide farmers with free agricultural education so as to improve production and teach on value addition.
Experts such as Mr. Tokunbo Darko, the Marketing Vice President at ICOWatchlist.com, a host for crypto tokens, urges Africans to embrace the cryptocurrency venture. “Truth be told. Africa needs Blockchain technology and its resultant cryptocurrencies more than any part of the world.” He says
Many in Africa are taking the bull by its horns and going in head to head and investing in the cryptocurrency world. Though it involves a number of risks, it is a venture that is worth the risk.
