Kevin Nyango
Long lines were seen at La Maison du Bitcoin’s teller offices in Paris. However, the amazing fact about the long queues is that a third of the people on the line were sending the digital currency to Africa in their homelands not checking the value of cryptocurrency by then. It is much easier to transact Bitcoin as the only requirement is a cellphone rather than a bank account making it easier for people back in Africa.
In Zimbabwe, the bitcoin value is expected to go higher than the current global rate after the military took over the government and that shows where the world’s usage of bitcoin and its future value is going to be. Bitcoin is taking shape in the nations with frequent economic problems. The residents of countries with economic problems find it easier to transfer money to their countries without involving the banks securing their savings from political pressure and avoiding the use of the country’s currency when its value goes down because of inflation.
The digital money is taking shape in the developing world more than the industrialized world, and that can be attributed to the decline in the confidence in the political institutions as recently witnessed in Zimbabwe. The scenario where Zimbabwe left the usage of its currency and started using the $ making it print 100 trillion Zimbabwe dollar notes in 2009 tells one on the effect which that transition brought to the investors by that time. What of if by then the usage of bitcoin was already on the market?
The selling and buying of bitcoins do not require government’s involvement at any cost making the transaction more secure. Some of the World’s biggest banks have shown distrust about the strength and the ability to withstand the rise of the bitcoin making the residence of the countries that experience high rates of inflations like Zimbabwe to disagree.
The exchange of bitcoin in Africa is usually carried out by local entrepreneurs, either licensed with a pool of cash or smaller scale or an individual with a cell phone with some cash in the pocket. The exchange is much decentralized in that there is no specific point for the exchange. Although it is slow to acquire goods and services using cryptocurrency, there are many upcoming shops which allow the usage in Africa.
Business people have come up with companies that are aimed at serving larger markets like BitPesa Ltd a Kenyan investment offers international money transfer services using bitcoin in Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, and Kenya. International companies are offering transfer of money to Africa through bitcoins making it easier for African living in Europe.
