How is the African crypto ecosystem different from other systems around the globe?
That's a good question.
Poverty is the most obvious and well known problem in many African countries. The people in these countries cannot afford high transaction costs. This is one of the bottlenecks that digital currencies such as Bitcoin face. UNA on the other hand, will allow for "almost free" transactions. Transactions also do not become more expensive with the growth of the network. Many people in Africa rely on regular cross-border remittances, since family members may work abroad, and need to send money on a frequent basis. High transaction fees would not be sustainable.
Transaction speed will also play a key role in the African ecosystem. Bitcoin is mostly regarded as a store of value, rather that a method of exchange for goods and services. This is mostly due to its slow transaction speeds. In developed countries, this is not a very big issue, since a lot of shopping is done online. In Africa, we are for instance dealing with street vendors / markets and regular taxi services. These types of transactions require faster confirmation, since the vendors cannot wait around for 10 minutes or more for the transactions to be confirmed. Cash and Mobile cash (Mpesa) is currently the primary method of payments in most African countries. With online shopping, transaction speed is not that critical.
Most people in Africa cannot afford
expensive mining equipment. These people however do have access to entry-level mobile phones and laptops. Since mining UNA requires very little resources, it would be possible for these people to also be rewarded / incentivized with UNA. The idea here is to create an ecosystem of equality, and "free" wealth distribution. Imagine someone in Uganda who has lost her job. She might need to support her family, but cannot do so. With the Una Platform, she will be able to mine UNA on her laptop, and this could serve as an additional source of income. This is also a big value proposition in our fight against poverty.
These issues are not isolated to Africa alone, but many other emerging economies as well. Africa however is just the starting point
Hope this helps.