How Blockchain is Finally Getting Africa on the Grid

Parents lining up to pay school fees in cash, lenders charging extortionate rates, and cash savings held under mattresses—these are some of the things residents in Africa have had to resort to due to financial technology not having yet fully expanded in the developing continent. According to Statista, only 48 percent of the African population has access to banking services in 2022. Accounts being the first point of entry into the formal financial system puts its citizens at an enormous setback as they are forced to turn to transactions that are not only inconvenient and wasteful but often risky too. Having access to a financial account instead of just cash allows users to take control of their finances by offering ways to manage money. By utilizing accounts instead of cash, both governments and businesses can help bring tens of millions of adults into the digitized financial system. According to a report from the World Bank, digitizing payments for agricultural goods alone would cut the number of unbanked goods by approximately 125 million, including 16 million in Nigeria. In Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, over 10% of adults still receive agricultural payments. A policy note on mobile money from the Global Findex team found huge financial potential for Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, it found that regionally, 350 million adults lack an account but 155 million said they have their own mobile phone, while 200 million said they h...