Head of Kenya’s biggest lender says cryptocurrency can supplement mobile money in Africa if lenders can convince regulators it’s worth it.
Meanwhile, central banks in Africa disapproves the utilization of the cryptocurrency, hence an uphill battle.
However, Central African Republic (CAR) is an exception, the only country to have adopted the digital assets, making Bitcoin an official currency recently, as well as the South African Reserve Bank which is also forming rules so investors can be protected.
James Mwangi, Equity Group Holdings CEO, said mobile money transactions in Kenya get more usage than hard currency. In keeping with that, he said using new tech can help Africa become more competitive, due to the fact that it lacks legacy systems.
“Africa will benefit substantially from leapfrogging on the fourth industrial technologies, and cryptocurrency is one of them,” Mwangi said, according to the report. “Cryptocurrency can as well complement the mobile money wallet, but essentially, we need to talk to the regulators.”
CAR’s adopting of Bitcoin could be a mistake, PYMNTS wrote. The country legalized the use of cryptocurrency recently.
The new law places the country “on the map of the world’s boldest and most visionary countries,” Obed Namsio, chief of staff to President Faustin Archange Touadera, said in a statement. He said the adoption could “open up new opportunities.”
However, El Salvador, the first country in the world to accept cryptocurrency has been having a rough go of it, as the experiment has seen widespread opposition and not much usage by people while International Monetary Fund (IMF) have opposed it, holding back a badly needed $1.3 billion loan to refinance debt with ratings agencies like Fitch and Moody’s have cut the country’s credit rating.
There was also a $1 billion Bitcoin-backed bond issue that has been delayed indefinitely.
Source : PYMNTS