How Crypto is being used for Social Good across Africa (Fintech Fridays Special Edition with Binance Africa Ep.10)

[00:00:00] 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'll be your host, Adrian Daniels. This special series on Fintech Friday is the 10th of a 12-part series where we explore blockchain technology and cryptocurrency in a lot more detail. Special thanks to our sponsors, Binance Africa.

[00:00:23] Binance is the world's leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider for financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume.

[00:00:33] 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 goods, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions and other.

[00:00:54] For more information, disclaimers, risk warnings and nicks, please check the podcast description section below.

[00:01:04] In today's episode, we're going to explore how cryptocurrency has been used for social good in Africa.

[00:01:10] References used for today's episode will all be found in the podcast player description below.

[00:01:15] Let's get straight into it.

[00:01:16] Now, crypto has been able to solve a handful of problems on the continent that is crying out for solutions across various sectors, okay?

[00:01:25] In addition to humanitarian support.

[00:01:28] Binance charity has put in place an education and feeding program in Uganda, for instance, which is backed by cryptocurrency.

[00:01:34] This is a very, very innovative program, I must say.

[00:01:38] And this is where they open crypto wallets for children in need with their parents as guardians of the wallets.

[00:01:46] Now, they receive cryptocurrency such as Binance coin, Bitcoin and Ethereum.

[00:01:52] They are all diverted to the suppliers wallets for food.

[00:01:55] So you can see how genius this whole setup is.

[00:01:58] And as you can see here, one benefit of cryptocurrency is transparency and accountability.

[00:02:04] In this episode, we're going to go into other reasons and other benefits of cryptocurrency in terms of how it's being used for social good across Africa.

[00:02:13] But with Binance, it doesn't stop there.

[00:02:14] They continue to make crucial contributions to the continent through various initiatives.

[00:02:18] For instance, Binance has invested heavily in crypto education across Africa.

[00:02:23] And if you guys have been listening to this series, that will certainly be a part.

[00:02:27] The Binance Masterclass program, for instance, has provided free crypto education to over 400,000 applicants since January 2020.

[00:02:35] And this includes topics such as cryptocurrency fundamentals, user protection, crypto trading, and couriers in blockchain.

[00:02:43] Binance also ran an eight-week masterclass in blockchain development to equip developers with skills to build blockchain solutions.

[00:02:52] All of these efforts aim to increase crypto literacy, protect users from scams, and create opportunities within the blockchain industry.

[00:03:00] Now, we've looked at how Binance has contributed to Africa.

[00:03:04] Let's look at other notable examples of crypto that have been used for social good across the continent.

[00:03:09] It's certainly going to be used to promote financial inclusion, as it is one of the top problems being solved in Africa,

[00:03:16] in addition to facilitating more of the resources in the country.

[00:03:20] For instance, of the $48 billion remitted to sub-Saharan Africa in 2019,

[00:03:26] an estimated $562 million worth of remittance patents were facilitated by cryptocurrencies, such as Ripple.

[00:03:35] Now, this has helped to reduce the cost and increase the speed of cross-border money transfers on the continent.

[00:03:42] Furthermore, it's also provided access to financial services for those unbanked.

[00:03:47] For instance, in rural areas where traditional banking services are limited,

[00:03:52] cryptocurrencies are providing a vital alternative for financial inclusion.

[00:03:56] For instance, in Kenya and in Nigeria, crypto has become a lifeline for essential financial transactions in regions,

[00:04:03] with limited conventional banking infrastructure.

[00:04:07] Now, we've spoken about financial inclusion.

[00:04:09] Let's take a look at other reasons.

[00:04:12] We've also spoken about transparency and accountability.

[00:04:14] Let's look at reasons such as affordable housing and small business challenges.

[00:04:19] Now, a Mozambique-based fintech startup called Empower, that's about E-M-P-O-W-A.

[00:04:26] Now, they are using cryptocurrency to crowdsource funding for residential real estate development.

[00:04:32] Now, by circumventing traditional bottlenecks in connected homes,

[00:04:36] Empower demonstrates the potential of decentralized finance in Africa.

[00:04:41] Furthermore, there's also a Kenyan fintech startup called Pezisha, that's about P-E-Z-E-S-H-A.

[00:04:50] Now, this Kenyan fintech focuses on SME credit scoring and loan origination.

[00:04:56] And how this works is that simply by converting the cryptocurrency community into SME lenders in East Africa,

[00:05:03] Pezisha has unlocked new capital and introduces a global pool of lenders to invest directly into Kenyan enterprises.

[00:05:12] And I think this is genius, honestly, really.

[00:05:16] Thanks again for listening to today's episode.

[00:05:19] Once again, for more information on Binance and the disclaimers, risk warnings and leaks,

[00:05:24] please check the podcast description section below.

[00:05:27] You'll also find references from today's episode.

[00:05:29] See you in the next episode.

[00:05:31] Thank you for listening.

[00:05:32] Bye-bye.