African banks, behind the times with fintech, could actually become pioneers in developing new financial technologies like the blockchain and bitcoin. Because these banks largely left it up to telecom companies to assume the role of financial service providers in parts of Africa, the banks are now investing in digital currency startups, according to Quartz Africa . The question is how long will it take.
Mbwana Alliy, a managing partner at the Savannah Fund, a technology venture company, said a headwind of fintech disruption is blowing from Europe and Silicon Valley into Africa . Blockchain innovation is heating up in places like Rand Merchant’s Alpha Code in Johannesburg, which hosted last December’s Afrikoin conference and currently operates a fintech accelerator, as well as Barclay’s Rise in Cape Town, which hosts Fintech Africa’s blockchain conference on Feb. 25. Blockchain Brings Africa Hope
Blockchain brings the promise of tracking and giving transparency to all transactions and making them tamper-proof since individual transactions are not kept in a single place but stored on computers globally.
Space Kenya Networks Limited, a Kenyan web development company, has announced the launch of its blockchain incubator BitHub , CCN reported in January. The company aims to bring together a consortium of individuals, organizations, and expertise to drive the development and adoption of blockchain technologies, especially within the African continent.
Africa has also been cited as a growth market for international currency transfers and remittances, via the bitcoin startup BitPesa, CCN has reported. California’s Pantera Capital Management LP provided BitPesa over $1 million USD in new funding for their African bitcoin operations.
In November, “60 Minutes,” The CBS TV show, gave an overview of how average Kenyans are conducting mobile commerce using their smartphones, catapults M-Pesa as a mobile payment service, CCN reported. The report explored the many benefits that […]
