Ghana emerging as a Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Hub | Carlita Cash
The Sound of Accra PodcastMarch 20, 2024
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07:216.84 MB

Ghana emerging as a Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Hub | Carlita Cash


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Let's keep this conversation flowing Carlita so

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so there was a there was an interview that came out

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a while ago with Del Titus so he's a pretty strong

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evangelist here in Ghana in terms of the web free space

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and I mean I saw an interview of him and Denta who's quite a well-known personality

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here in Ghana and they had a conversation about web free and crypto and the

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blockchains and one interesting thing he said Carlita was that he feels that

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Africa or Ghana per se is ready for or, you know, the Web3, the blockchain,

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the crypto, because you have the likes of Google,

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you know, they've got their headquarters in Accra.

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Twitter was here, but of course, that's, you know, they've come and packed up

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their bags because of Elon, you know, doing what he's doing.

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And, you know, you've got other, you know, tech companies, you know,

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that have established themselves in Ghana.

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So there's a lot happening, you know, in this space. And I think just off the

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call, I mentioned Jack Dorsey, you know, comes to Ghana quite a bit.

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And, you know, he always He always finds himself at the Africa Bitcoin Conference,

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which runs every early December for a few days.

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Why do you feel Ghana or Africa per se is ready for crypto, Bitcoin,

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I mean, sorry, Web3, blockchain, you know, all of these new technologies,

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these emerging technologies?

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So that's a great question. I think to be honest, I think Ghana and I think

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Africa on the whole almost doesn't have a choice but to get into this market

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to the industry. The market is so fresh.

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I like to tell people that we're still in the beta series of blockchain crypto. crypto.

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There's only under 1% of the world who's even invested into cryptocurrency.

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So we're still in the early stages. And I believe that the market is amazing in Ghana.

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I believe that there's quite a few startups in Ghana.

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It's still an up and emerging industry there where a lot of people are curious.

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I know last summer, University of Ghana just started their blockchain,

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first blockchain course.

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So I know they're trying to integrate it.

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They're trying to get the youth. The youth actually already are interested in

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it. Some people are trading.

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Some people are investing into cryptocurrency specifically.

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And I think it's just a great market. It's a place where people are starting

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to see that cryptocurrency and blockchain is allowing Africans,

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allowing Ghanaians to have an even playing field with the rest of the world now.

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When you look at Dubai, Dubai is the hub of crypto right now.

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Ghana can be like Dubai. you know it's

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it's there's very large possibility of that happening here there's so many natural

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resources here and so encompassing that with the industries that are already

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there is going to help the market's going to help the different industries to

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grow and uh and be powerful.

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Yeah there's a very interesting comments you made

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kalita yeah i feel like where the economy is going where the

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government's going where banks are moving us all banks are

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moving a lot more digital I've noticed in Ghana

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as well even the phone companies as well

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I think you know some of these mobile money transfer platforms

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as well you could see them kind of moving into

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crypto in the future you could kind of see that transition there

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it's mentioned it's quite interesting you mentioned you know you could see Ghana

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or Accra per se as you know being like another Dubai because I think during

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the 2020-2021 lockdown period what you found was people that weren't able to

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make money through the usual means, they actually got their phones.

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They started that downloading, you know, apps like Binance or what have you,

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or the equivalent in Ghana and Africa, and they were actually able to make money

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through, you know, buying, selling, trading crypto.

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So yeah, I think, you know, the interesting thing about Ghana Africa is that

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a lot of people have smartphones and once you can get on the internet,

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you know, the rest is history.

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Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, exactly. Mm-hmm, okay, cool.

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So, I mean, speaking of Ghana, I mean, you, of course, let's talk about your

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trip to Ghana, your recent trip to Ghana, actually.

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So we're now in February 2024, as we're recording this episode.

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Tell us a bit about your trip to Ghana and this was your first time and what

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you got up to during this particular trip.

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Yes, so it's been my fourth time to Ghana.

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I absolutely loved it. The other times, the first time I went,

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I stayed about two months and absolutely loved it.

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This trip, I got to stay about five weeks.

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And it was really nice. This trip, I got to actually explore a little more.

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I got to go to Cape Coast. I got to visit the slave castles.

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And this trip was very meaningful to me.

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You know, the first time I came to Ghana, it was trying to explore Ghana.

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And first time actually in Africa. And so it was an amazing opportunity.

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So the first time was, okay, let me kind of test out the waters and see how it is.

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Get to enjoy Dutty December and the festivities, concerts.

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And so this trip was more of a business trip for me.

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And to kind of delve into the market a little more and to meet people and to network. work.

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I did a lot of networking, which was great.

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And I got to visit the Jubilee House as well. I was really, really excited about that.

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And I really got to see the history and visited Independence Square.

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And I realized there's so much opportunity in Ghana, especially when it comes to tourism.

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I could see the door opening there, especially when it comes to North Americans.

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I see a lot of Americans coming to Ghana, but not as many Canadians.

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So I'm trying to, I'd love to kind of get more Canadians to see, like myself.

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The the beauty of the culture and the history and the

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people and so that's what i really got to

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do this time around and it was it was fantastic it was

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amazing absolutely fantastic um it

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sounds like quite an accomplished busy trip as well

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it sounds like you packed in a lot in five weeks you know networking business

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business touring travel enjoyment as

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well of course you can't come here without enjoyment you know so glad

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you got to pack in is what you did sounds like a

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well you know you know a well-deserved and

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you know a well you know time used trip

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but yeah i think you are right in terms of you

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know there's a lot of americans coming of course the british have been coming

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you know no pun intended for many years as well but yeah

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i think canadians i think we're starting to see a lot more canadians start

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to come as well but i think you do have quite there are quite

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a number of canadians around you know you've got like ivy prosper

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you know popular youtuber she's around you know she

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came on the show last season you've got living ghana you

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know run by frank mensah he's he's canadian and he runs you know that property

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company in ghana and and 54 tours 54 gold tours i believe it's another canadian-based

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tour company in ghana so you do have quite a few canadians emerging and you

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know i'm sure that's just gonna grow so yeah i'm sure you'll find the.

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That's right yes amazing trip amazing trip so okay cool let's let's keep this

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moving So tell us through AFRI

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plus tech and tell us about what the business does and your role in it.