Hello, everyone. Welcome to the FinTech Friday series on the Sound

of Accra podcast, where we unpack economic topics and

affairs across the African continent. I'm your host,

Adrian Daniels. This brand new series on FinTech

Friday is the first of 12 special episodes where

we explore blockchain technology and cryptocurrency in a

lot more detail. Special thanks to our sponsors, Binance

Africa. Binance is the world's leading blockchain ecosystem

and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial

product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by

volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance

platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users

and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and

offerings including trading and finance, education,

data and research, social good, investment incubation,

decentralization and infrastructure solutions and more.

For more information, visit www.binance.com.

For more information, disclaimers, risk warnings and links,

please check the podcast description section below.

In today's episode, we will explore why Africa is the next gold mine for

cryptocurrency covering remittance needs and effectiveness,

high mobile penetration, digital payment adoption, economic

stability and currency volatility, youthful population

and government initiatives. Just a reminder,

today's references used for today's episode will all be found in the

podcast play description section below. Let's get

straight into it. Now Africa is predicted to have

strong economic growth in the years to come. So it's a real fertile

ground for cryptocurrency to become the next thing. Now let's get

into the reasons why Africa is the next gold mine for

cryptocurrency. Now the first one we need to explore is

Africa is the youngest continent on the planet. Now according to the World

Economic Forum, Africa will represent 1 fifth of

the world's population by 2030. I mean, that is just mind

blowing. Now the average age for any African

is over 19 years old. This youthful

makeup over the continent can only mean there's great potential for the

the future overall for Africa. But even more so, a young

population are the most tech savvy. So it makes the perfect

place for technology such as the blockchain and cryptocurrency

to experience massive growth in adoption and development.

Okay. Now the next reason why Africa is the next gold mine

for cryptocurrency is is that remittance needs are very

high on the African continent. Now there is a lot of

African diasporans living abroad outside of

Africa and this means that earning power plays a

crucial part in contributing to the economic stability of many

African nations. Nigeria, for instance, has the largest African

population and naturally it also has the largest African

diasporan population in the world. And also this also naturally

means that Nigeria receives the highest remittance compared to any

other African country. Now there is no reason

why remittance is a huge industry. Now

remittance hugely is possible due to the fact that almost

every African on the continent owns a smartphone, which

makes it possible for them to withdraw these funds sent from abroad. Now in this

episode, we will cover a bit more information regarding

smartphone adoption. Now cryptocurrencies present a

faster and a more affordable solution for cross border transactions,

allowing families to receive funds quickly and securely. And this is

why Africa could be the next gold mine for cryptocurrency.

As a result, these are all boosts and accessibility and

efficiency of digital products and services to Africans on the

continent. Now for example, some governments in African countries

such as Ghana are even basing the whole operation on the back of

the blockchain. For instance, in May 2024,

Ghana's vice president, doctor Baumia, said that the nation is heading to

becoming one of the first blockchain powered governments in the world. Now this is

what he quoted. He said, we are moving towards blockchain technology

because blockchain technology makes it possible to discover any and all

changes made to digital data, no matter how small, no matter

by whom we will find it immediately. So the blockchain

practically blocks corruption and this is where we are headed to so that

you can track and trace all transactions across the government space. And this is

a very, very effective tool. He goes on to say,

our goal is to make Ghana the 1st blockchain powered government

in Africa and one of the few in the world. We believe we

can be the 1st in Africa to do so, he declared. Over

99% of the Ghanaian government has been onboarded onto the Ghana dot

gov digital platform, where many government databases and services are

operating from. If the government is embracing blockchain

technology to this capacity, it really still

is early days. And the general public will surely be fertile ground

for becoming cryptocurrency users in the months years to

come. Okay. Let's continue. Now

let's talk about the economic instability and currency

volatility across Africa. Now, this

is in various parts of Africa when it comes to economic instability and

currency volatility. And it makes it very difficult for the average African citizen to

be financially self sufficient. Now, if cryptocurrency rising in adoption in the continent, this

will certainly be a golden opportunity to help many Africans

overcome the fluctuation of opportunity to

help many Africans overcome the fluctuation of their

national currency by holding cryptocurrency stable coins

and even other coins such as Binance's BNB coin on

cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, which is the world's biggest

Bitcoin exchange and Altcoin crypto exchange platform by

volume. In addition, according to further Africa,

a large percentage of Africans are unbanked and underbanked.

Meaning no access to basics like a bank account. Now with

cryptocurrency, there is now an opportunity to provide basic

financial services through digital wallets, which massively helps to

close this gap of being unbanked. Once a former bank is

in place, other benefits of having a bank such as having access to

loans and credits helps such African citizens to get on a ladder

to having a better quality of life. Now let's

talk about smartphone adoption. Almost every African has

an access to a smartphone regardless of how rich or poor they are.

And this is really amazing to see when you're out there in Africa. Now

according to the GSMA, that is the Global Systems For Mobile Communication,

over 88% of Africans will have access to a mobile phone.

These are very good numbers for technologies like cryptocurrency and

blockchain to thrive. The smartphone adoption on the continent is

very high. And as a result, one of the most transformative

impacts of of mobile phone penetration has always been the rise of mobile

money services. Now these services have provided

financial inclusion to millions of unbanked individuals, allowing them

to perform transactions and even save money and even

access credit through their mobile phones. Now Binance,

the world's leading blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, is

excited to announce the expansion of its services in

Africa. Users in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda,

and Zambia can now buy and sell crypto assets using mobile

money, enhancing accessibility and convenience for crypto

enthusiasts in these regions. With the introduction of Binance's

one click buy and sell feature, that's the OCBS,

users can seamlessly purchase crypto assets and sell assets

directly from their mobile money accounts. This new feature is part

of their global fiat on ramp, off ramp offering

developed in partnership with Transfee. Users are also

reminded to upgrade to the latest version of the Binance app.

To ensure secure experts, Binance applies rigorous know your

customer, that's KYC, protocols and robust security

measures. These practices are designed to protect users' assets

and personal information while meeting regularity

requirements. By enabling mobile money deposits

and withdrawals with these safeguards, Binance aims to make cryptocurrency

more accessible to the unbanked and underbanked populations in Africa.

This initiative aligns with Binance's mission to increase the freedom

of money globally and empower users with easy access to

digital assets. Mobile adoption plays a vital role

in digital payment adoption. Binance, earlier this year, released

the results of a Binance and Pulse survey, which found that

Ghana is at the forefront of cryptocurrency and

blockchain adoption on the continent. I really hope you enjoy that,

and I really hope you understand why Africa is the next

gold mine for cryptocurrency and the blockchain. Once

again, for more information on Binance and the disclaimers,

risk warnings and links, please check the podcast description

section below. You also find references from today's episode.

I'll see you in the next episode of Fintech Fridays powered

by Binance. Thank you so much. I'm Adrian Daniels, signing

out. Peace.