Yes, you’ve seen the headlines. Explosive returns. 4500% increases promised for certain altcoins by 2025. Rexas Finance, Ripple, Solana, Cardano, Dogecoin – the usual suspects are back at it again. Before you mortgage your house and dive headfirst into the crypto pool, let's talk about something far more important than overnight riches: Africa's future and the real potential of crypto to build it.
Gains Are Sexy, Impact Is Eternal
Let’s not kid ourselves, the federal capital provides a siren call—the promise of huge returns at scale. All of us want to make a quick buck, and the crypto space even appears to provide that opportunity—sort of. But pursuing those increases in a vacuum is a pipedream, particularly in the African context. Future of the industry We can’t simply afford to treat crypto as another kooky, speculative asset class. We have to think about it not as a weapon against us, but as a tool. A tool for financial inclusion, a tool for economic empowerment, a tool for building a more equitable future for all Africans.
I'm not saying ignore the potential upside. A rising tide can lift all boats. If all we pay attention to is the tide, we will lose sight of all the boats that are going under. In doing so, we lose sight of those communities that are falling behind and unable to access even basic financial services. We do a great disservice to the entrepreneurs that are currently being held back by lack of capital. We need to shift the narrative.
Think about this: how much more impactful is a 4500% gain when it's used to:
- Fund a local school?
- Provide access to microloans for women entrepreneurs?
- Build a sustainable farming project?
Instead we have to incessantly read about Elon Musk’s tweets and the latest DeFi insanity in Silicon Valley. Yet we hardly hear about the success stories emerging from Lagos, Nairobi or Accra. What about the people who are actually using crypto to solve real-world problems, today?
Forgotten Voices, Remembered Solutions
Let me introduce you to Fatimah, a Kenyan smallholder farmer. She uses a blockchain-based platform to get better prices for her crops, cutting out shady middlemen. Join Kwame, a young entrepreneur in Ghana. He uses crypto to get paid by his foreign clients, sidestepping the heavy bank charges and the poor double-currency exchange rate that banks impose.
Those are the stories we need to elevate. But they’re the ones that demonstrate what crypto could truly be on the continent. We are sick of the hype around speculation. We want real solutions!
Just look at Texas Finance, Ripple (XRP), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), or Dogecoin (DOGE). Instead of just looking at their price charts, let's consider their potential use cases in the African context:
Of course, these are just examples. The first step is to cut through the hype and begin identifying the real-world uses of these technologies.
Let's be clear: crypto adoption in Africa isn't a walk in the park. We face significant challenges: limited internet access, regulatory uncertainty, and a lack of financial literacy. These challenges present opportunities.
| Altcoin | Potential African Use Case |
|---|---|
| Ripple (XRP) | Facilitating faster and cheaper cross-border payments, enabling remittances and trade with greater efficiency. Imagine a world where families can receive money from relatives abroad without losing a significant portion to fees. |
| Solana (SOL) | Powering decentralized applications (dApps) for supply chain management, ensuring transparency and traceability of goods. Think about tracking the origin of coffee beans from a small farm in Ethiopia to a cafe in Europe, ensuring fair prices for farmers and quality products for consumers. |
| Cardano (ADA) | Building secure and transparent digital identity systems, empowering individuals to access essential services and participate in the digital economy. This is crucial in a continent where many people lack formal identification, hindering their access to healthcare, education, and financial services. |
| Dogecoin (DOGE) | Micro-tipping and community building. While Dogecoin might seem like a joke, its low transaction fees make it ideal for small-scale transactions and fostering online communities. Imagine using it to support local artists or fund community projects. |
We need to scale up education and training programs to best work with these changes. This will equip Africans with the requisite skills to understand and engage with the crypto ecosystem responsibly. We must start working alongside governments to set the stage for clear, positive regulatory frameworks. And we need to continue rolling out infrastructure that opens up the crypto space to everyone—no matter where they live or how much money they have.
Build, Not Just Buy, The Future
Keep in mind, the crypto future of Africa is more than just purchasing the next best altcoin. It's about building the right ecosystem. It’s about enabling people and communities to leverage crypto to build the futures they want for themselves.
Don't just chase the 4500% gains. Chase the impact. Chase the change. Chase the future. Africa's future.
Remember, the future of crypto in Africa isn't just about buying the right altcoins. It's about building the right ecosystem. It's about empowering individuals and communities to use crypto to create a better future for themselves.
Don't just chase the 4500% gains. Chase the impact. Chase the change. Chase the future. Africa's future.
