@kerneloops
@mic
I'm from Kenya and a member of the team spearheading the Bitcoin Kenya group. We're working on setting up an org to promote adoption and awareness of BTC in Kenya and East Africa.
Anyway, I posted a link as [Michael] on LTB coins to the Bitcoin Kenya meet up page. http://www.meetup.com/Kenya-Bitcoin/events/189533912/
Happy yo be part of the LTB community. I love the show, and continue to learn so much.
That's awesome! If you don't mind me asking, how do you see Bitcoin taking a foothold in Kenya, or Africa in general, for that matter? We hear about Bitcoin being a no-brainer solution to the remittance market, but so far it's been pretty quiet on that front. You think it's lack of (device) infrastructure, education, trust, or what that's keeping the bitcoin remittance boom from really taking off?
Keep up the good work!
Thanks for asking Kerneloops
On the remittance front, it's a no brainer like you say. The lower costs and time saved almost sells itself. Fortunately, remittances in Kenya are mostly inflows from abroad. So, you're dealing with a pretty educated and open minded consumer from the UK/US sending money home.
A $1.2 billion annual remittance is a huge opportunity. I'm not sure if you've heard of BitPesa, a start-up in Kenya using bitcoins for lower remittance costs in the UK-Kenya corridor. https://www.bitpesa.co/ They've began operations and I've met the team on more than one occasion. Very promising. The team is presently touring Bitcoin conferences. They were recently at the #BitFin conference in Ireland. Look out for them and the CEO Elizabeth Rosiello.
There are two exchanges domiciled in SOuth Africa BitX and Ice3X. They cater to South AFrica only but some are trying to expand. In Kenya, TagPesa, a BTC exchange is set to begin perations in August. In Ghana, a start-up, Kitiwa is exchanging bitcoins for local currency.
As for the rest of bitcoin in East Africa, education is certainly holding it back. I've come across very few people who've heard of bitcoin. And most of those who have, have a skewed perception of what it really is. Even developers! A group of us are setting up an NPO, the African Digital Currency Association to educate the community, developers, regulators, professionals, merchants etc in and around East Africa. The meet up is part of our initiative. We're also in talks with the BTC foundation on affiliate status. I'll post updates here on our progress.
I see plenty of use cases for bitcoin in East Africa. Every LTB show I listen to always has a new concept that is perfectly suited for solving antiquated problems at home. The financial markets in East Africa and broader Africa for example, are in dire need of A LOT of emerging crypto concepts like decentralized exchanges & crypto coin issuances. Access to financial services is a reserve of a minority. The payments solutions here could also use bitcoin/cryptos similar to bitcoin to lower P2P transfer costs of micropayments (less than $3 variety). See this chart from Kenya https://twitter.com/prepaid_africa/status/481895009852325890/photo/1
Look out for an infographic Mama Mboga Report: Bitcoin for Micropayments in Africa coming out this week by ADCA
There's a young population that's always on smartphones. Smartphones and internet connectivity are on the rise. Internet penetration could be better, but, it's growing.
I could ramble on, but I hope I've shed some light. You can contact me on [email protected] if you like. Meanwhile, here's a brief slide on digital currency and financial inclusion slideshare.net/African_DCA/digital-currency-financ
