15 Aug Africa Will Lead The Charge When it Comes to Digital Currencies for Payments

Africa is going to leapfrog the world when it comes to digital currencies.  The low and slow level and cost of banking consumers in Africa is a retarding growth factor in the adoption of traditional banking accounts and methods. 

Another contributing factor to adoption of digital currencies is the extent of mobile phone penetration and the level of user experience as a result of a lack of personal computer devices.

The high volumes and cost of remittances makes the African continent a great opportunity for using lower cost and higher speed digital money transfers.  The extent of government control of consumers and payments and the volatile nature of country currencies makes the privacy and limited supply of digital currencies a relatively attractive option.  Just ask consumers in Turkey, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

Consumer adoption will take some time as a result of the historic complexity of securing, receiving and sending digital currencies.  But crypto and wallet providers are consistently making it easier for consumers to buy, hold, transfer and pay with digital currencies.  

Luno is operating in South Africa and Nigeria, and Binance is looking to Uganda, the Abra wallet is easy to use, Bitpesa has a longstanding track record of operating in East Africa, and Ripple has started contracting with forex providers on the continent.  So it is just a matter of time. 

Africans have a need for a better payments and transacting system as opposed to more developed economies where payment methods and systems are more mature, economical and frictionless.