Ghana is a leader in Africa for many things in the world. Okay? For
Speaker:instance, Ghana leads Africa in being arguably one of the
Speaker:world's fastest growing economies, is also one of the most
Speaker:peaceful countries in Africa. And being the 1st sub
Speaker:Saharan African country to receive independence in 1957
Speaker:is also not a small feat at all. It's also one of the
Speaker:biggest exports of cocoa in Africa and the world.
Speaker:In West Africa, Ghana is one of the most stable democracies and is even one
Speaker:of the leaders of the West African political and economic union,
Speaker:ECOWAS, right? Now in recent years, Ghana's
Speaker:technology and start up scene, you know, has started to emerge. I
Speaker:mean you see the likes of Google and Twitter send up HQs
Speaker:in the capital Accra, even though now Twitter HQs left
Speaker:the the country sadly. But still, Google has a presence.
Speaker:And then you even have events such as Tech in Ghana, you know, have such
Speaker:a presence in Africa and the world. But one thing which is starting
Speaker:to take the nation by storm is cryptocurrency. Ghana is a
Speaker:country which has a relatively high smartphone adoption rate. And
Speaker:even as of 2024, the smartphone adoption rate in Ghana is
Speaker:approximately 46.1%, with about 15,600,000
Speaker:smartphone users reported in 2020. Now this figure
Speaker:indicates a significant presence of smartphones among the population,
Speaker:reflecting the growing trend towards mobile connectivity. Thanks
Speaker:to statistics from Ghanaian government and also
Speaker:Watra for this fact. Now the more
Speaker:Ghanaians have smartphones, the more access they will have to wealth creation
Speaker:technology ultimately such as cryptocurrency.
Speaker:Now moving on, Binance, the world's biggest Bitcoin
Speaker:exchange and Altcoin crypto exchange platform by Voluum, released the
Speaker:results of a Binance and Pulse survey, which discovered that Ghana is at the
Speaker:forefront of cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption on the continent.
Speaker:Now this is after Ghana ranked 9th place out of 27 countries in
Speaker:Africa that have adopted the cryptocurrency. This is absolutely
Speaker:fantastic. Now the survey results were taken from 20,000
Speaker:people in Ghana who took the survey. And out of those 20,000
Speaker:people, it just shows that they are all aware of
Speaker:cryptocurrency in a developing country. And the fact that this
Speaker:is the case is huge, it's massive. Now this is
Speaker:a huge stride in growth in crypto adoption in Ghana, but also,
Speaker:this also reflects the huge promise that cryptocurrency will have in the country.
Speaker:Now, Golar said he's no stranger to cryptocurrencies. I mean, as you've heard me
Speaker:mention in previous episodes, that the government even wants to consider launching
Speaker:their own digital city, which is a central bank digital
Speaker:currency. Now in addition, I've also interviewed crypto
Speaker:evangelists such as Carlita Cash from Canada, whose mission is to
Speaker:help increase crypto adoption across Africa and especially in
Speaker:Ghana. I'm even speaking to Eric Annan, whose startup has
Speaker:been backed by the likes of certain crypto exchanges and
Speaker:even helps to co run blockchain and web free based meetups in
Speaker:Accra for developers and tech enthusiasts. You can listen to
Speaker:a past episode where I discuss my experience at one of their
Speaker:meetups back in February. Now let's not even forget the
Speaker:African Bitcoin conference, which has been held in a crowd for the
Speaker:past 2 years. And this is attracted to the likes of Jack Dorsey,
Speaker:who's really big in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space.
Speaker:Now here's a few words from Yandi Nomeveti,
Speaker:operations manager for Binance Africa. This is what she's had to say
Speaker:on the back of the survey, who we've also spoken to in the Sound of
Speaker:Crowd podcast. You guys can go and check out the episode. It's out right
Speaker:now. So Yandi says, our pulse survey really
Speaker:underscores how Ghana is embracing blockchain technology and how open
Speaker:they are to engaging on the topic. The quiz achieved more
Speaker:than 20,000 impressions with a reach of more than 20,000 users
Speaker:over a 3 day period, which is exceptional. Our understanding
Speaker:of the market, whether it's to the impressive cryptocurrency savvy of
Speaker:Ghanaian users equals long term successful investors in this country.
Speaker:So those were a few words from, from the
Speaker:survey. And I will leave a link to the full article so you can see
Speaker:everything that she said. Now it's clear that garnish
Speaker:showing high level of cryptocurrency and blockchain understanding. I
Speaker:mean, having spoken to Yandi on the podcast from Binance
Speaker:Africa, it's clear that they are determined to play a role in driving
Speaker:this growth and transform the economy in such developing
Speaker:countries. Now Binance Africa also plays a
Speaker:key role in educating users on the importance of crypto and how it can
Speaker:benefit themselves and the economy With the abundance of educational
Speaker:resources it has on its mobile app and platforms. Binance
Speaker:has made a lot of investment into making its platform super robust,
Speaker:credible, and free from privacy flaws. They've also invested a
Speaker:lot of money in terms of raising awareness of their platforms around
Speaker:the world. I mean, I've been to conferences like Web Summit in Portugal,
Speaker:Lisbon, and I've seen Binance there. I mean, they're all over the place,
Speaker:and they are really passionate about educating
Speaker:the users and the world on blockchain and cryptocurrency. And
Speaker:it's no wonder why many Ghanaians use the platform today to buy,
Speaker:sell, hold, and even trade cryptocurrency and learn about the
Speaker:blockchain. So what do you guys think about Ghanaian's renewed
Speaker:attitude to crypto today compared to years back,
Speaker:especially when many Ghanaians began to turn to cryptocurrency
Speaker:during times of turmoil such as the lockdowns? Are
Speaker:we heading into a golden era in regards to
Speaker:digital finance in the nation becoming more of an emerging
Speaker:crypto leader on the continent? Reach out to
Speaker:us on social media. Just search for The Sound of Accra Podcast on
Speaker:Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Twitter. You can also drop
Speaker:us an email info at the sound of crowd dot com. You can also visit
Speaker:our website www.thesoundofaccra.com. You can hit the
Speaker:contact us button, and we'd love to hear from you. So that's it for
Speaker:today's Fintech Friday episode, guys. We look forward to hearing from you. You've been
Speaker:amazing. If you've got to the end of this episode, I've been Adrian
Speaker:Daniels. Take care. God bless. And we'll see you in the next
Speaker:one.