Bitcoin Africa 2024 Takeaways
Bitcoin is Global
My recent trip to Kenya was a transformative trip for me to say the least. There is so much I have been reflecting on, but I wanted to share a few key takeaways with you all.
If you could see the work being done in Bitcoin, on the African Continent, you would be tremendously inspired
First off, the price of bitcoin and its role of serving as a digital asset/wealth building tool was very much in the background, if not absent all together. Most of the talks I listened to, and people I spoke with, were exclusively focused on Bitcoin as a mechanism for the Peer to Peer transfer of value. Many attendees I spoke to had the same experience. From mining, to new applications being build on the Bitcoin Network, to an emphasis on community and education, pleasantly absent from the conference were the terms ETFs, Power Law, and other market talk. It was refreshing to say the least.
Gen Z in Africa is an absolute force
Of all my conversations, those with the Gen Z crowd blew my mind. From speaking multiple languages, to owning multiple companies, to being able to code and develop, I fear for Gen Z folks in the U.S. that would have to compete with the Gen Z crowd doing global work from various nations around Africa. The good news, everyone I talked to was so incredibly collaborative and optimistic. For those American Gen Z’ers that find themselves behind, there are many leaders to work for and with. If I were a Gen Z American, looking to work in Bitcoin, I would connect with a Gen Z’er in Bitcoin doing work in Africa and beyond, and learn from the great work they are doing.
Bitcoin Mining in Africa is serving up energy models for the world to follow
I got a great opportunity, courtesy of Gridless (Thanks Gridless!) to visit a mining operation in Eastern Kenya. Proof of Workforce board member Mags Gronowska summarized it far better than I can so I will send you to her tweet if interested in reading more. (see Mags Write Up Below) Ultimately: don’t trust, verify when it comes to mining. 1. There is an abundance of inspiring mining operations happening all over the world. Go learn about them. 2. If it was easy everyone would do it, aka mining in various conditions takes tremendous proof of work, so Gridless and their entire team deserve tremendous kudos for putting in an insane amount of work and grit in their endeavor. They are also really cool and genuine folks, from the leadership to the investors and staff.
Tando and Femi Longe were the all-stars of ABC 24 (Of course Farida Nabourema and the entire team behind ABC 24 are all-stars by default)
Femi Longe, from HRF had the talk of the conference in my opinion (many others agreed). Don’t trust, verify, and keep an eye out for the talk when it is posted by ABC. www.youtube.com/@africabitcoinconference
The main point from Femi’s talk, that I took away was this: Africa as a continent has a long history of being deprived of peer-to-peer mechanisms of value exchange, with a long history of devalued currencies across different countries and communities. Historically, this has assisted outsiders in extracting value from the nations of Africa. With the dawn of Bitcoin, a new tool to serve Africa, by Africa has arrived. What Africa needs now, is more of it’s native builders to build. What is not needed is another religion, or the proposition from outsiders that Bitcoin can “save Africa”, which often ends up taking the form of outsiders serving themselves, at the expense of African Nations.
My experience on this trip verified the content of this talk, primarily in seeing the amazing tools being built on Bitcoin, for the nations of Africa, by the sons and daughters of Africa. I hope to support this work and those doing the work, and learn from the incredible times ahead, which Femi, the HRF and many others are actively supporting.
TANDO!
I am always hesitant to download new wallets, especially abroad. But, I’m happy I checked out Tando in Kenya. I’ll briefly tell you why:
First, it saved me at the airport when traveling home. The clerk at the airport counter said to my horror, as I was dying of thirst, “sorry our card system is down and we dont take cash. Only M Pesa.” MPesa is like venmo for Kenya. I jokingly asked if they accepted Bitcoin, which they did not or so they thought. I busted out Tando, which allowed me to enter their phone number, generate an invoice and send Sats, which converted to Kenyan Schillings for them directly to their MPesa account. Keep in mind I dont have an MPesa account and never had to do anything with Mpesa. The register clerk saw my iphone screen for the whole thing and thought it was magic. She said “Whats that thing called?” and I told her “Tando”
Super fast. Super cool. When in Kenya, Tando!
Second, it also allowed me to use sats to kick some extra cash to my friends who sit on the board of KENFIBA. Which leads me to…
The Kenyan National Firefighter Brigades Association front ran Microsoft, Apple and Meta, in adding Bitcoin to the balance sheet!
I’m going to keep this short and sweet, but provide a longer write up on the details very soon. Ultimately, in an unplanned and fateful trip to the Nairobi Fire Station, I was able to connect with the leadership of the Kenyan Firefighters Labor Union (longer amazing details later). And in the convo there, and subsequent hard work from the Proof of Workforce team, along with donors and supporters, we were able to help the Kenyan Firefighters Association become the first labor union in the country of Kenya to hold Bitcoin on the balance sheet in self-custody. This was, is, and will continue to be transformative for them, and I am forever proud and humbled to have taken this journey, with the support of my Proof of Workforce Team, our supporters, and the Africa Bitcoin Conference crew that helped spotlight this historical undertaking at their conference. I am confident this will lead to more wage-earners, labor unions and workers finding Bitcoin across the African Continent and beyond.
I’ve always felt one of the greatest things about Bitcoin is the work and building taking place across multiple facets of it’s existence, simultaneously. From the U.S. Gov exploring a strategic reserve, to new lightning payment implementations like Tando, so much is happening every hour. This isn’t to be feared its to be celebrated. Bitcoin isn’t either a store of value or peer to peer digital cash system, it is both occurring at the same time, with varying incentives driving the different aspects. Conflict/debate may be unavoidable in certain moments in time, such as when fees impact network use, or if hard forks of the protocol are presented, but in the meantime, the incentive mechanism is working beautifully. As Bitcoiners, we are driven to get in where we fit in, pursuing the incentives that appeal to us. My recent trip to Africa opened an entire new world, that I would like to pursue and support much more. And for that, I remain incredibly grateful.
Thanks for checking this out, and for any support in helping us with our mission: helping workers and wage-earners learn about Bitcoin, and use it as a tool to protect their time, energy and futures. More info can always be found at http://proofofworkforce.org
Please help us spread the word, and join us in our future work!! Which reminds me of a term I learned in Swahili… Kazi Yetu! Our work! Talk soon. Asante Sana!
Inspiring post