The adoption of cryptocurrencies in Africa has been an interesting topic over the years and experts have prospects for exponential growth in the sector. As many Africans are already accustomed to mobile money, a shift to embracing crypto projects is not far-fetched.

A study by YouGov and ConsenSys revealed that Nigeria and South Africa are among the five countries with the highest understanding of digital currencies all over the world. According to the United Nations, Africa’s population is projected to grow to 2.5 billion by 2025, representing more than 25% of the total world’s population. With this geometric population growth in mind and predominantly youth demographics in Africa, the entire continent presents a promising landscape for cryptocurrencies and other digital currencies.

Intersection of mobile money and cryptocurrencies

The fintech sector of Africa continues to gain ground because of the emergence of mobile money products that solve germane financial problems. However, not all fintech companies embrace cryptocurrencies the same way, causing a lag between the adoption of mobile money and digital currencies.

The wake of Covid-19 has also helped in shifting focus to the adoption of mobile money as traditional financial services were not enough to cater to their specific needs during that period. This shift towards fintech made financial services both accessible and efficient, creating an African economic system that is competitive on a global scale. With innovative firms like M-Pesa, Paystack, and Flutterwave taking the big stage in the sector, Disrupt Africa reported in a recent publication that African fintech startups have jointly raised $2.7 billion over the past two years.

Despite the promising figures in the fintech sector, the adoption of cryptocurrencies still has room for growth when compared to the current adoption of mobile money products. The crypto sector has comparatively fewer users but has recorded noteworthy success stories nonetheless. For instance, Nestcoin introduced a virtual card product to enable users to spend stablecoins across over 160 countries, and Luno introduced a product that helps people clear grocery payments using cryptocurrencies.

The coexistence of a booming fintech sector and a prospective crypto expansion in Africa highlights the citizens’ zeal for dynamism and receptiveness to improvement opportunities. With many firms already emerging to stimulate knowledge and adoption of Web 3 products in Africa, there is a promise for significant growth in years to come.

Roles of NODO in crypto adoption

Web 3 and digital currencies adoption in Africa is on the rise and many companies are leveraging the opportunity to level the playing ground so that more Africans are exposed to this new era of the internet. Among others like Afropolitan, Mara, Canza Finance, NODO is taking a central stage in educating consumers on the Web 3 products and services being developed in countries all over Africa.

Designed to foster awareness, development, and adoption of Web 3 products in Africa, NODO is revolutionizing access to Web 3 products and services. Founded by EMURGO Africa, NODO is making huge progress as a pan-African source for verifiable and consumer-driven content designed to empower Africans with knowledge and literacy on Web 3 products and digital assets. Because of the substantial role cryptocurrencies and Web 3 play in solving the continent’s social and financial issues, a platform like NODO is the reverberation of Africans' need to bridge the knowledge gap in Web 3.

“We are happy to announce the launch of the verified pan-African news service NODO News. With accurate and reliable news as well as educational content created by our industry expert team, we hope to improve Web3 literacy and knowledge in Africa and promote the adoption and development of this sector for the African market… Learn, engage, and discover the best Web3 products in one place with our NODO platform,” said Shogo Ishida, Co-CEO of EMURGO Middle East & Africa while announcing the new service via CoinMarketCap.

Future prospects

The increasing interest in crypto APIs, crypto-fiat payment systems, stablecoin payments, and other web3-related financial services reflects a global trend. While there is a growing awareness and adoption of web3 and cryptocurrencies in Africa, the growth in user base is yet to be at par with the neighbouring mobile money services. With platforms like NODO taking a central stage in educating African people on the resourcefulness of Web 3 and more companies innovating in the sector, there is hope of Web 3 being the next big thing in the continent over a few years to come.