From Tech Moran

If you have read or heard about bitcoin, ‘the unbanked in Africa’ must have come up. To be honest, you do not have to know what bitcoin is, a quick google search can show you what I mean.

Much of this content on the ‘bitcoin for the unbanked in Africa’ narrative, links back to sources off the continent, which is not at all surprising. It seems to me, few of those making proclamations have actual on – ground experience to speak of.

For the record, I have no doubt cryptocurrency technology will enable financial access for some of the unbanked, at a certain time X in future. Setting assumptions aside however, bitcoin is taking its own form in East Africa, and the reality now is a huge contrast to what you and I thought.

Bitcoin’s early adopters in Africa are more likely to be banked

This map from Google trends features key term – bitcoin – searches in Africa. Most searches are concentrated in fast paced urban cities of Sub Saharan Africa – Lagos (Nigeria), Nairobi (Kenya), Accra (Ghana), Johannesburg and,Capetown, South Africa.

In my experience, access to information on bitcoin is limited in part by access to internet services; electricity, an internet enabled device and a fair amount of formal education. Writing from Nairobi,I know most of us here are privileged and more likely to be banked. The same is true of Lagos, Accra or Capetown.

To pick at a low hanging fruit, over 50% of Kenyans now own mobile phones,just over 35% actively use digital currency services and  a healthy % regularly access online applications.

Nigeria and Ghana exhibit similar development in West Africa, as does South Africa. Africa today is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies; ripe for digital currency adoption,but not like we imagine.

Read more at Tech Moran