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Ghanaian and Nigerian Central Bank Open Respective Regulatory Sandbox Application Processes
29.1.2023
The Ghanaian and Nigerian central banks have invited financial innovators that wish to be included in their respective regulatory sandboxes to submit applications. The Bank of Ghana said its sandbox will also support innovations that attempt to solve the financial exclusion challenge. Solving...
Nigerian BTC Peer-to-Peer Volumes Nearly $400M in H1 of 2022 — Significant Growth in Kenya and Ghana Volumes
25.8.2022
Nigeria’s peer-to-peer bitcoin traded volumes of over $1.1 billion between January 2021 and June 2022 mean the West African nation is now Paxful’s largest market. Kenya, which saw traded volumes of over $325 million during the same period, now ranks as the crypto exchange’s...
Report: Kenyan and Nigerian Central Bankers Attack Cryptocurrencies but Endorse CBDCs
13.6.2022
Cryptocurrencies are very unstable for them to become a widely used method of payment, the Nigerian and Kenyan central bankers have reportedly said. In addition, the bankers claim that cryptocurrencies also pose a risk to financial stability. Narrowing the Financial Exclusion Gap The Nigerian...
Co-Founder of Africa Focused Fintech: Traditional Banks Not Optimized to Serve the Unbanked
2.6.2022
For years, traditional financial institutions in different parts of the world have been attempting to narrow the financial exclusion gap by extending their services to the unbanked population. Yet for many reasons, these institutions still cannot avail their products and services to everyone that...
Kenyan Central Bank Document Discusses Benefits and Risks Posed by CBDC — Public Asked to Comment
12.2.2022
Kenya’s central bank has acknowledged in a recently released document that a central bank digital currency could potentially benefit the country’s financial system. The bank, however, warned that rolling out a CBDC could also pose risks to the same. CBDC’s Impact on Financial...
Bank of Zambia Expects to Complete CBDC Study in Q4
12.2.2022
The Bank of Zambia has said it expects to complete its study seeking to determine the feasibility of launching a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), before the end of the last quarter of 2022. Narrowing the Financial Exclusion Gap The Zambian central bank has said it expects to complete...
Egyptian Banks Set to Launch Multi-Million Dollar Fintech Fund
1.10.2021
Egyptian banks are reportedly on course to launch a $69.6 million fund which is earmarked to support the country’s fintech companies. According to a report, this fund is expected primarily to target the digital banking and financial services sector. Fintech Apps Targeted Fintech apps that...
Study Shows 36% of Nigerian Adults Are Financially Excluded — Digital Financial Services Bolsters Inclusion
6.6.2021
Nearly 36% of Nigeria’s 106 million adults lack access to both regulated and unregulated financial services, according to the findings of the Enhancing Financial Innovations and Access (EFIA) study. In addition, while the findings do suggest a marginal drop in the percentage of financially...
Egypt’s Growing P2P Volumes Being Driven by Crypto Traders Under the Age of 34
23.4.2021
A recent market report by Localbitcoins suggests that traders or holders under the age of 34 are driving crypto volumes in Egypt. This rise in Egyptian crypto transactions is evidenced by P2P data which shows the crypto asset’s weekly traded volumes averaging $205,000 in much of Q1 of 2021....
How African Users Can Buy and Trade Bitcoin Cash Without Facing KYC or Geoblocking Hurdles
13.4.2021
Africa remains the home to a large proportion of the world’s population that is unbanked according to a 2017 World Bank Global Index survey. Many of those who are unbanked cite their lack of official identification particulars as one of the main reasons for their predicament. Cryptos...
Rumored US crypto wallet restrictions: A step toward financial exclusion
18.12.2020
Without proper crypto regulation, the U.S. government might create a massive roadblock to financial inclusivity
Perverse Outcomes: FATF, Bitcoin and Financial Exclusion
29.7.2019
How do we break a vicious cycle of KYC and financial exclusion? The answer may lie in blockchain technology’s own capacity to track transfers
Unbanked for Buying Bitcoin: How the Financial System Criminalizes Crypto
28.7.2019
When we think of the unbanked, we envisage citizens of developing nations who lack the means and documentation to obtain access. But you don’t have to be a Mongolian goat herder to find yourself financially excluded. In the West, relatively affluent citizens are having their banking services...