Excerpt
In my keynote at the Africa Bitcoin Conference, I focus on how Africa is empowering Bitcoin and the vital role Bitcoin plays in African countries dealing with inflation and authoritarian government control. I highlight the growing adoption of Bitcoin across the continent and the expanding community – also thanks to the work and support from our Bitcoin For Fairness initiative. I emphasize that while these developments are significant, they’re just the start. The ongoing need for education and hands-on support in these communities is crucial for the continued growth and effective use of Bitcoin, not only in Africa but also globally.
Transcript
Hello everyone! Thank you for inviting me here to the second edition of the Africa Bitcoin Conference. It’s the second visit here for me and I’m feeling very honored to be a part of this important event. I want to thank you for coming because you are the ones who will carry the torch of financial freedom forward. Each one of you has the power to change the world.
I’m a Bitcoin educator and the founder of Bitcoin For Fairness, a nonprofit initiative sharing Bitcoin knowledge globally. The first time I visited the continent, I was in Zimbabwe and Botswana to learn about the challenges for people on the ground and how Bitcoin can empower Africans. This was in early 2020. After the pandemic, I came back to spend 12 months in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, and South Africa. I have been doing workshops, talks, podcast interviews, supporting local Bitcoin communities, and building bridges between people and initiatives from different countries. This conference marks the beginning of my second longest stay here while I am focusing on strengthening and scaling education today. I want to share my experiences and understanding of how Bitcoin empowers Africa and how Africans can empower Bitcoin with you.
So how does Bitcoin empower Africa? Look at the state of the world. 55% of the global population live under authoritarian rulers. Quite a significant number of African countries are hence covered in orange and red on this map. At the same time, people with the least wealth are living in African countries too. That’s not a coincidence. A common pattern in authoritarian led countries is that the infrastructure is so broken that people have no time or energy to build resistance. With high inflation, like around 40% here in Ghana, you have no opportunity to save money or a plan for your future. In some countries, it’s even worse. Let’s take a closer look at Zimbabwe. This is a typical Zimbabwean bread. It hasn’t only gotten smaller, the price also skyrocketed in recent months. In 2019, all USD bank accounts were forcibly changed into Zimbabwean dollar accounts. The government was promising its value will stay at the rate of one to one. Of course, this was a lie. Bread, which cost one Zimbabwe dollar in 2019 cost 4,000 Zimbabwe dollar in May, 2023, and now in November/December, 2023, it’s one to 8,000 the exchange rate. So the bread now costs 8,000. Zimbabwe dollar.
Monetary inflation is inherent in the traditional system. You can exit that system with Bitcoin as it cannot be inflated by rulers. Of course, authoritarians dislike Bitcoin because it’s non-governmental money. No wonder that many African countries try to ban it while at the same time trying to get you to use central bank digital currencies that they can control like the E-Naira in Nigeria.
One of my teachers, Andreas Antonopoulos, said, Bitcoin is a R.I.P.C.O.R.D.. It’s an exit. It’s a lifeline, which gives you an opportunity to exit the current financial system, which is a system of control. Why is Bitcoin a R.I.P.C.O.R.D.? Because it is revolutionary, immutable, public, collaborative, open, resistant to censorship and decentralized. Where open means anyone can use it, there’s no ID needed, no verification, no email, nothing. And censorship resistant means no one can hinder you from access your funds, steal it or freeze it or change your transactions. And this is especially important because Bitcoin enforces freedom of speech and association. It allows human rights and civil organizations to receive funds from abroad and send it between different African countries without the danger that they could be frozen or ceased like with a bank account or if you may be aware, to use tether, the stable coin USDT, which can be censored and frozen.
Another opportunity for African nations to gain financial independence is Bitcoin mining. Instead of selling out natural resources like gold and rare earths, they could invest in Bitcoin mining to leverage existing hydropower. Gridless and Bigblock Datacenter are companies that are mining in several African countries already. They are also here at the conference.
The banking fees in South Africa are higher than in Germany. People have lost trust in banks because they are slow, bureaucratic and often deny their clients access to their bank deposits. I know people in Zimbabwe who have unbanked themselves and only live of Bitcoin, which they exchanged to US dollars, peer to peer on the ground if needed.
But it’s only Bitcoin in self-custody that gives you the keys to change your lives and gain freedom. It’s only if you hold your keys that Bitcoin is empowering. That’s why education is key and so important to understand the differences in the use of Bitcoin, different Bitcoin wallets, and especially how to safely store your Bitcoin.
And of course, age and perspectives are an important factor in education as well. This is an interesting number. It’s the median age of Africans, it’s 20 years, whereas in Europe it’s 43. Where do you think will new technologies that require completely new thinking be adopted faster? Where will be more innovation in the future? It’s a no-brainer. A financial technology that breaks power structures will be used more where the needs to adopt new technology is higher and people are open to experiment and use new tools.
And how do Africans empower Bitcoin? At the moment, Africa has the smallest cryptocurrency economy compared to the region size and population, from what we can see from the data of bitrefill. Reasons for this are proliferance scams and missing education about Bitcoin and its differences to other projects like World Coin, Cardano and so on. Sadly, scams are a global phenomena and scams work the same everywhere. So how can you detect a scam? It’s a scam when:
- someone asks you to buy a start the package
- to bring a friend or a family member
- to do monthly payments or
- if people promise you profits
And you don’t need to join Bitcoin because I said before, it’s open for anyone.
What I have observed is that the use cases in the Global North and the South are different. Whereas Bitcoin in the north is more used as a store of value, a long-term investment. In African countries, Bitcoin and also USDT are more used as a medium of exchange, as a tool in daily life. To reach global adoption, we need both. The north needs the south and the south needs the north, and Bitcoin can do both with lightning or Fedi’s eCash. It’s a fast medium of exchange and long term its value will become more stable to serve as a savings tool. Due to the often changing price of Bitcoin, many say it’s a risky investment. Truth is you need to save it at least for free to five years. Most transactions are done peer to peer without know your customer identification in African countries. That’s great for privacy and fosters financial inclusion, and it’s important for all Bitcoin users worldwide because it guarantees the possibility to earn and spend non KYC Bitcoin.
The adoption since I came the first time in 2020 has been huge. There was only one initiative I knew of in 2020, and that was the Satoshi Center in Botswana. Now there are the Bitcoin calories in Ghana, Bitcoin DADA in Kenya, Bitcoin For Fairness in Zambia, Bitcoin Innovation Hub in Uganda, Bitcoin Ekasu in South Africa and many, many more. One by one Africans will see how Bitcoin empowers them even when they don’t have internet. Even when they don’t have internet? Yes, that works with Machankura8333. That’s just one example of an innovative solution built by an African for Africans. Then there is the BTrust Builders Program, a training program for African Bitcoin developers. That’s very important because resilient and innovative solutions for African use cases can only be built by African developers who are familiar with the situation on the ground.
The work Bitcoin For Fairness has been doing in the last three years, my talks, workshops, media appearances have been a great way to build trust and on what users, but that is not enough. In a fast moving and dynamic technology like Bitcoin education has to be continuous and not only punctual. To offer sustainable and scalable Bitcoin education, Bitcoin For Fairness launched the online learning platform Cracked The Orange. It’s a train-the-trainer platform with a focus on self-custody and privacy where are aspiring Bitcoin educators and community builders learn everything they need to share Bitcoin education with their peers. With the support of our donors, we are able to offer scholarships.
This is only the beginning. Bitcoin communities and users will skyrocket in the coming years in Africa. Bitcoin is not perfect yet. We need scalable solutions to onboard the first billion of people. We need more privacy to protect individuals and human rights activists against surveillance. People often say these are edge cases. I say these are the cases where Bitcoin will prove its uniqueness as a tool for freedom. And Bitcoin needs you, it doesn’t have a marketing department learn about Bitcoin, show your friends and family, become an educator, start your own podcast or group. One by one, we can change the world.
