There are several regions of the globe currently experiencing an explosion of new cryptocurrency users.

Many countries in Africa and South America appear to be at the center of this growth.

As we have covered before here on the Avesta news blog, crypto provides an avenue for the unbanked to access the financial system. Where there are large numbers of unbanked, we see a boom in crypto users as a result.

In addition, we have also covered the fact that when fiat currencies fail, crypto can step in and serve as a sort of lifeboat for citizens who see the value of their hard-earned cash quickly spiral into oblivion.

Countries like Nigeria, South Sudan, and Egypt, for example, have suffered steep declines in the value of their local fiat currencies. Citizens of these countries have turned to crypto to save themselves from the reckless policies of central banks.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, which is responsible for an inflation rate of 14% (the 6th highest in the world), has gone on the record to say that stopping crypto in Africa is impossible.

The central bank made a statement in 2017 that read, in part:

“Central bank cannot control or regulate bitcoin. Central bank cannot control or regulate blockchain. Just the same way no one is going to control or regulate the internet. We don’t own it.” This is very sensible and the correct and forward-looking approach.

This admission by a central bank demonstrates the potential of cryptocurrency being put in the hands of the people. Crypto in Africa can undo some of the damage done by central banks.

Aspects of Crypto That Make It Desirable for Africans

A 2017 article by author Michael Rainer Press puts some of the advantages of cryptocurrency into perspective:

“The cryptocurrency-based blockchain economy is an asset-based economy, while the fractional reserve banking system, based on fiat currency, is a debt-based system.”

That same article goes on to describe how and why crypto markets, while often volatile, are actually more free than traditional financial markets:

“In a free decentralised global market where volatility is not suppressed by trillions of central bank-created quantitative easing (QE), the market becomes more volatile as it becomes more efficient, acting faster to information changes.”

In many African nations that have yet to establish economic systems or governance that their citizenry can rely on, digital currency may provide the perfect solution.

Having access to a financial store of value and medium of exchange coupled with privacy and security of funds can assist great numbers of people across the African continent.

Challenges for Crypto in Africa

While Africa has a large market for potential users, and a growing user base, there are still barriers to widespread adoption. Education, awareness, and user experience are just a few reasons that changes like these take time.

Still, considerable progress has already been made when it comes to crypto in Africa.

Services like BitPesa allow African users to make cross-border transactions with cryptocurrency, while others, like BTCGhana, provide local users and the unbanked easier ways to buy and sell bitcoin.

Avesta is Perfect for Crypto in Africa

With the Avesta wallet, users of all kinds can create invoices, mine AVE tokens, record business transactions, and more from within a simple user interface.

The increased interest in and use of cryptocurrencies in African countries and elsewhere signals a significant step on the road to crypto mass adoption.

When citizens of such countries decide to step into invoicing and point-of-sale transactions, the Avesta platform can easily step in and fulfill those needs.