Over the years, cryptocurrency adoption in Africa has put the continent in global lights. Crypto adoption in Africa grew by 1200% between July 2020 and June 2021, making Africans the fastest adopters of Crypto in the world. On the surface, this may be great news for Africa, but majority of the adoption numbers comes from anglophone African countries like Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa. French-speaking Africans, by comparison, are distant from the crypto party, and Binance is trying to change this.
On September 10, 2022, Binance, a leading global crypto infrastructure provider, commenced a tour to 5 countries in francophone Africa intending to create more awareness of crypto and web3. With a mission to drive blockchain adoption and improve financial accessibility in Africa, Binance is placing itself as the first point of contact for crypto newbies in these 5 countries.
The first stop on the tour was The Republic of Benin, where Binance held its first community meetup in Cotonou. The meetup, which was held offline, introduced 400+ attendees to the fundamentals of crypto technology and NFTs. Over 250 crypto enthusiasts also won NFTs from the day’s activities and quizzes.
On September 24, the Binance team will hold its next community meetup, and this time, in Togo. This will be followed by a meetup in Côte D’Ivoire on October 8, Cameroon on October 22, and Burkina Faso on October 9.
This tour notably follows Binance’s earlier move to power crypto education by establishing a crypto hub in Yaounde, Cameroon. At the hub, Binance provides the internet connectivity needed to enable increased crypto literacy and adoption for tech enthusiasts. This is especially laudable considering Cameroon’s low internet connectivity—about 33.5%.
Speaking on Binance’s move to drive crypto across french speaking Africa, Carine Dikambi, Francophone Africa Lead at Binance, said that Binance is intentional about building communities that will enable the success of crypto adoption in these regions.
“It is clear that Francophone Africa has limitless potential to be a key player in the blockchain revolution and we are committed to providing more people with access to the necessary information and tools to use digital assets and blockchain. Community is a vital part of blockchain and by bringing together like-minded people to learn and grow in the space, the future of blockchain in Francophone Africa is inevitably prosperous,” she said.
Binance is doing for francophone Africa what Ejara, a local crypto startup, is trying to do for Cameroon. The startup is capitalising on the under-tapped market of over 200 million users of the CFA Franc, majority of which are not exposed to cryptocurrency. According to Ejara’s founder, Nelly Chatue-Diop, cryptocurrencies in Francophone Africa are reserved for a few elites who wish to diversify their assets. Institutions such as Ejara and Binance are breaking this barrier, thereby unlocking a massive opportunity for business and wealth creation.
Another overarching solution that Binance’s ambitious strides seek to create is an Africa where cross-border payments are not as problematic as they are today. With crypto, issues with remittances and cross-border transfers could be addressed more easily, new markets and possibilities could be opened, and a seamless network of payment solutions would be made available, with Africans at the centre of it.
