Excerpt
I take you behind the scenes of organizing Bitcoin education in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Discover the challenges of building trust, finding local partners, and navigating the unique obstacles of these regions. From dealing with electricity and internet issues to ensuring safe environments for discussions, I’ll show you the real-life efforts that go into promoting Bitcoin in Africa!
Transcript
Starting from Scratch in a New Country
There’s a lot to say and a lot to be done when organizing educational events, especially if you’re totally new to a country. First, I always have to identify people on the ground who are at least somewhat aligned with the message I have—like doing Bitcoin-only education. These people also need to have time to support the work. Most importantly, I need to find out if I can trust them before I even begin sharing knowledge.
Building relationships is very important, and finding out if you can trust someone is a long process.
Building Local Infrastructure
The next step is to find and reach those who might be interested in learning about Bitcoin. Local Bitcoiners in many of these areas aren’t easy to find, but they are crucial to building sustainable structures. If I can’t find at least one trustworthy person on the ground, then it doesn’t really make sense to give a talk or host a workshop. It’s important for people to have someone locally they can go to with questions.
That’s why I’m so happy we now have Bitcoin for Fairness Zambia, an independent initiative. They’re hosting monthly meetups where people can come and ask questions. On WhatsApp, the group has already grown to around 100 people.
Adapting to Local Conditions
Another time-consuming part of this work is getting acquainted with the people, the area, and the local customs. Even just organizing an event and finding a suitable venue isn’t easy.
For example, in Zimbabwe, I need to ensure it’s a safe environment to talk about Bitcoin. Authorities sometimes crack down on people openly using or advocating for cryptocurrency. In contrast, things are easier in Zambia. Bitcoin is more regulated there, which helps people feel safer using it—even though I always advise against using KYC exchanges.
That might sound contradictory, but it’s not. What I mean is that people in Zambia don’t have to fear open use of cryptocurrencies, as the government isn’t actively discouraging it.
Navigating Bitcoin Access in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, the government may talk positively about blockchain, but not about Bitcoin. There are no legal exchanges. People must use money traders—who are already part of the informal economy exchanging Zimbabwe dollars to USD—to trade Bitcoin as well.
This is true in many African countries: trusted, reliable exchanges are hard to find, but informal money changers will help you convert Bitcoin to local currency and vice versa. Due to limited competition, they can charge up to 20% in fees.
Whenever I get the chance, I advise people to receive Bitcoin from family members abroad and then exchange it locally.
Infrastructure Challenges
Beyond education—via talks, workshops, or interviews—a lot of my time is spent simply coping with basic infrastructure issues.
In Harare, the borehole water in the house I stayed in wasn’t safe to drink. Electricity and internet are also major challenges. The internet is unstable, slow, and expensive. While Starlink is now available, it’s still too costly for most people.
Electricity is another big issue. In Zimbabwe, we often had daily load shedding without warning. When I was in Harare in 2023, we had no power from early morning until late evening, and there was no notice about when it would be turned off or restored.
Comparing with South Africa
In South Africa, the situation is slightly better because people at least get SMS updates about scheduled load shedding: for example, “The power will be off from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and again from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m.”
During these windows, you must organize all your electricity-dependent activities—laundry, cooking, internet, charging devices.
I lived in a house with solar panels, so we had some power during the day, but we still had to conserve. Our batteries weren’t strong enough to power appliances like a washing machine, so doing laundry became a gamble—would the power last?
Impact on Work and Connectivity
Living in Zimbabwe means constantly managing your day-to-day life, and that eats into time you’d rather spend working—or resting.
Due to electricity and internet issues, I had to stop releasing podcast episodes. It made me realize how disempowering a weak internet connection can be. Without reliable access, you’re cut off from participating in the global digital marketplace. You can’t create or share content, follow new developments, or run a podcast unless you’re in a well-connected urban area and can afford high costs.
This is a serious disadvantage for people in the Global South.
So yeah, that’s a lot of what I’m doing when I’m in Zimbabwe or Zambia. I’m really looking forward to going back again.
