Ethiopia became Africa’s latest defaulter after it failed to make an interest payment following the end of a grace period on Monday - Bloomberg reports. This says that tall building that kissing the sky and eye popping infrastructure don't make you rich. Anyways,
Cryptocurrency has become very popular in African continent. It is the third fastest-adopting continent in terms of cryptocurrency. Can cryptocurrency help Ithioia and Africa to get rid of poverty?
Cryptocurrency will give Africa an alternative payment system. Crypto firms can also employ few people in these developing nations. Other citizens who have savings could decide to trade or invest in Bitcoin and make some profit. Nations can also decide to invest in Bitcoin just like El Salvador and might make a profit in the future. However, cryptocurrencies cannot deliver Africa from poverty unless the government and citizens make the right decisions and take appropriate steps. Cryptocurrency is popular in Africa because it is mostly used as a hedge against inflation. Many currencies in Africa have lost so much value that the citizens especially youths prefer to keep their funds in Bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency cannot help any country if its population does not know about it.
The first thing that needs to be done, is not to make new software or infra for it, it's to translate documentation of Bitcoin, wallets, services, and other things like that into their native language. Only when people understand the technology can they make use of it. Also, most people in Ethiopia own a mobile phone. So the groundwork is already there for Lightning Network.
I find this idea very innovative and impactful. Many people in Africa are illiterate and might not be able to understand some major languages in the world. But many of them could read their local languages. These books could also be translated into audiobooks in the local languages. However, I assume that infrastructures like electric power and internet connections might be a bigger impediment to Bitcoin awareness and adoption in Africa. As of 2022 about 69.12 million Ethiopians own mobile phones but only 566,206 have broadband access.