Crypto could boost mobile money transactions

Cryptocurrencies have become very popular in Africa and experts believe the continent could play a crucial role in crypto adoption.

James Mwangi, Equity Group Holdings CEO, believes that the adoption of cryptocurrencies could enhance mobile money transactions in Africa.

According to Mwangi, mobile money transactions have already surpassed physical cash transactions in Kenya. He added that this is an indication of the growing trend in the African economy. He said;

“Africa will benefit substantially from leapfrogging on the fourth industrial technologies, and cryptocurrency is one of them. Cryptocurrency can as well complement the mobile money wallet, but essentially, we need to talk to the regulators.”

Kenya is one of the leading African countries in terms of cryptocurrency adoption. Alongside Nigeria and South Africa, Kenya is spearheading cryptocurrency growth in Africa.

Nigeria is a unique case as it currently has the highest percentage of cryptocurrency adoption in Africa and one of the highest in the world.

The rising inflation levels in Nigeria over the past few years have seen its citizens turn to cryptocurrencies to store and preserve their wealth.

Similar to some central banks around the world, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) banned financial institutions from providing crypto-related transactions a year ago. However, Nigerians have turned to peer-to-peer platforms like Binance, LocalBitcoins and Paxful to carry out their crypto transactions.

Some experts believe that Africa will be one of the leading continents in terms of cryptocurrency adoption. 

A large percentage of Africans don’t have access to traditional financial services. However, cryptocurrencies are expected to provide financial services to the unbanked regions of Africa and other parts of the world.

The cryptocurrency market has underperformed in recent months. The total cryptocurrency market cap has dropped from its all-time high of $3 trillion in November to currently stand around $1.3 trillion.