- Africa May Be Ready For Crypto Revolution
The African Crypto revolution is about to get started as a new study revealed growth in the ownership of Cryptocurrency in the continent.
With 10% of internet users in South Africa holding a financial interest in Cryptocurrency, the Global Digital Report 2019, by Hootsuite, ranks South Africa as the Africa’s top nation for ownership of digital currencies.
Earlier this month, Crypto Exchange, Paxful had revealed significant transaction volume growth in Africa.
According to Richard Gardner, the CEO of Modulus, who spoke on this, said Africa is adopting emerging technologies at a rapid rate and also ready for a transition towards digital currencies.
“This new survey is the latest evidence that Africans are adopting this emerging technology at a rapid rate. There are geopolitical factors at play that combine to make the continent an ideal petri dish for innovation within the industry,” he noted.
Speaking further, Gardner said despite the high volatility rate, cryptocurrencies are appealing. Owing to the fact that fiat currencies throughout Africa have been weak on the Foreign Exchange market, with the South African Rand, Zimbabwean Dollar among others struggling against alternative currencies.
Again, he noted that the weak currencies of the emerging economies of Africa have necessitated investors in Africa to look towards digital assets as a way of guarding against inflation.
“There is significant talent within Africa, especially in the technology sector. Adoption of digital currencies may have been jump-started by circumstance, but anybody counting Africa out from the tech race is premature,” Gardner added.
Speaking on the challenges of the adoption of digital currencies in Africa, Gardner said despite the growth of Crypto adoption in the continent, there are numerous challenges facing the broad adoption.
Gardner explained the challenges of insecurity noting that Africa is faced with limited security infrastructure and inadequate regulation leading to fraudulent activity on the online space.
“Yes, there are a host of challenges that economies throughout the continent face, including access to infrastructure. But, as they say, necessity is the mother of innovation. As the world realizes that the technology behind cryptocurrencies is here to stay, Africa may be a prime position to attract speciality start-ups. Obviously, such an injection into a community and economy would have far-reaching ripples,” Gardner said.
