African Crypto Update: Blockchain Solutions to help the Food Crisis and Geothermal Energy for Bitcoin Miners

This week’s news digest comes with a special guest: Kampay’s CEO, Chris Cleverly. Cleverly excitingly argued over the potential of blockchain technology to solve food insecurity in the African continent in an article recently posted at Investing.com. According to Cleverly, novel technologies like blockchain are here to help us overcome major issues that we have been handling as a society for decades, and tech-related solutions are here to create a lasting, constantly upgraded cycle towards a better quality of life. He also highlights that the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has already recognized that blockchain can bring considerable improvements for agribusiness, helping to decrease fraud in the food industry. With this, the global economy would be looking into a new chapter, as food fraud currently takes around $40 billion of its revenue. The full article can be accessed here.

https://uk.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/how-blockchain-is-helping-to-solve-food-insecurity-in-africa-2662593

And speaking about the perspectives of blockchain technology in Africa, TRT World published some promising rates that point that Africa is indeed solidifying its position as a crypto hub, especially due to a special ecosystem of startups and unicorn firms that are entering the African market to bring blockchain-related solutions to its long lasting issues. As crypto adoption in Africa grew more than 1000% percent in the past year, many economies inside the continent started to attract worldwide attention, which resulted in a wave of entrepreneurs taking or expanding their business to Africa. In the first quarter of this year, blockchain startups in Africa raised $91 million, an impressive number compared to the total of last year ($120 million). It is expected that more blockchain unicorns will join this scenario and Africa keeps creating adequate conditions to lead crypto adoption and accelerate the implementation of crypto-related technologies. The full report with more groundbreaking numbers of this sector in Africa can be found here. 

https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/crypto-continent-the-rise-of-african-blockchain-startups-57680

Completely aligned with what we just mentioned regarding Africa’s constant steps toward crypto adoption is the Bank of Uganda’s decision to accept crypto in its regulatory framework. Recently, Andrew Kawere, the director of the Payment Service department of the Bank of Uganda (BoU) shared that BoU is working on being ready to fully embrace crypto firms as crypto-economic models recently analyzed by the financial institution showed positive outcomes. However, the future of this possibility is yet to be defined by trials inside regulatory sandboxes that will officialize the rules and procedures necessary to test financial innovations like cryptocurrencies. Maybe Uganda will make it to our upcoming news digest carrying exciting headlines!

https://www.cryptopolitan.com/bank-of-uganda-opens-its-sandbox-to-crypto/

Right across the border, in Kenya, citizens involved in the crypto world also have something new to look forward to. KenGen (Kenya Electricity Generating Company), the leading electricity supplier in the continent, just announced its plan to provide excess geothermal power to bitcoin mining companies. Currently, Kenya is the top producer of geothermal energy in Africa, responsible to deliver more than 14,000 megawatts (MW) to the entire African territory. KenGen’s director Peketsa Mwangi explained that the company has the means to make this movement and can guarantee stability to end users. It is worth mentioning that since no crypto mining firms are officially established in Africa yet, it is expected that the group of people interested in this offer will be concentrated in Europe or inside the U.S. 

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/kenyas-largest-power-provider-to-offer-geothermal-energy-to-bitcoin-miners

To wrap up this week’s crypto round-up, we go back to stablecoins a bit. As the hub of crypto enthusiasts keep growing in Africa, stablecoins are fastly moving to occupy a central position in Africa’s crypto market. The vital role stablecoins play in the crypto economy is based on the liquidity and certainty it brings to users and investors. This type of digital asset is a good option for investors who want to guarantee they will have some return on what they put on the market but still can dribble the downturns that an extremely volatile market may bring. In Africa, as many citizens are being lured by cryptocurrencies looking for more stable means to control their financial lives and walk toward stability and financial freedom, stablecoins are a very suitable alternative to standard fiat currencies and will likely become a pillar in Africa’s crypto bubble. Follow our social channels to see how this and other crypto-related affairs will unfold! 

https://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/business/news/202206/467875.php