Eugene Mutai, bitcoin ‘miner’ and software developer, uses a tablet computer with his two-and-a-half … [+]
“Bitcoin presented a glimmer of hope for altering the economic landscape in the global south, particularly Africa,” Noelyne Sumba told me in our interview. Sumba is a bitcoin advocate from Kenya who said she is dedicating her life to furthering bitcoin adoption on the continent. Less reliable financial infrastructure and higher rates of inflation than western nations are among the factors that make Africa a hotbed for bitcoin use.
Sumba oversees orange pill operations, or marketing and education, at Machankura, a wallet that enables bitcoin transactions without relying on the internet or smartphones. She also serves as the Africa correspondent for The Bitcoin Layer, a research organization that examines Bitcoin from a global macroeconomic perspective.
Sumba said her primary goal is to promote widespread acceptance of Bitcoin at the grassroots level, with a particular emphasis on Africa, while also shedding light on the advancements and positive applications of bitcoin within the continent.
Bitcoin adoption in Africa is still in its early stages, but it has the potential to grant access to financial services for millions, bolster human rights and incentivize infrastructure development.
Energy Infrastructure and Development
“Before bitcoin, there was no incentive to provide electricity for rural Africa,” Brandon Quittem told me in our interview. Quittem is the Head of Marketing for Swan, a bitcoin only exchange. Brandon started his career in enterprise software at Oracle, then spent 5 years as a startup founder before entering the bitcoin space.
I discovered Quittem after reading his essay Bitcoin is a Pioneer Species. Quittem’s thesis compares bitcoin miners species like lichen, who break down rock and make it possible for other organisms to start growing. Bitcoin mining can play a similar role with energy development by building in areas that nobody else can.
He says that the initial inspiration behind his essay comparing came from a project in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an impoverished region with very little electricity which limits economic mobility. Bitcoin miners partnered with Virunga to build out hydroelectric facilities in this region, financing operations and agreeing to purchase all of the excess power that the local community does not need.
“Electricity means work can be done after dark, online education for their children, increased economic opportunity, and much much more,” Quittem offered as we closed out our interview. The pioneer species pattern continues with bitcoin miners such as Gridless working to build out energy infrastructure in Africa with the help of bitcoin-only venture firm Stillmark and Jack Dorsey’s company Block. Quittem is optimistic that bitcoin miners will be the incentive to finally bring reliable energy across the African continent.
Human Rights Anita Posch
Anita Posch began her bitcoin journey in April 2017 when she attended a keynote in Vienna about Open Blockchains and Bitcoin. “This event shed light on how Bitcoin could bring about a positive impact for society and humanity as a whole,” she told me in our interview. After starting a podcast and writing a book, Posch turned her attention to bitcoin in Africa as a tool for enforcing human rights.
She founded Bitcoin for Fairness, a nonprofit initiative that is raising awareness and understanding of Bitcoin for people in emerging countries and for disadvantaged communities. Posch said that during her first trip to Zimbabwe in 2020, it was difficult to find individuals interested in learning about bitcoin. That changed in 2022 however when she returned to Africa for a more extended stay.
“I visited Bitcoin Ekasi in South Africa to provide infrastructure support such as hardware wallets and lightning nodes,” Posch said about some of her work. Bitcoin Ekasi is a bitcoin circular economy where members of the community earn and spend in bitcoin.
Posch disclosed that the bear market has been difficult in these areas but offered that “despite these difficulties, more shop owners and local businesses are now approaching Bitcoin Ekasi, expressing their interest in becoming part of the Bitcoin ecosystem.”
She said that she has observed a growing number of Bitcoin communities emerging in Ghana, Zambia, and Kenya. She anticipates that hundreds of communities will be founded across Africa in the next two to five years. “The dire situation with local African currencies, coupled with authoritarian-led governments, naturally drives people towards cryptocurrencies,” Posch explained about the growing bitcoin use.
Posch posits that as people go through a few market cycles, particularly in Africa, they will begin to understand that while bitcoin may exhibit high volatility, that ultimately won’t matter in the long term. She concludes “the government’s devaluation of their populations’ wealth, coupled with rampant inflation and corruption, makes bitcoin a beacon of hope and optimism.” A positive message that Sumba and Posch are working hard to spread throughout the region.
