According to blockchain data from Chainalysis, cryptocurrency thrives under the radar in Africa, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where the region has the world’s highest percentage (80%) of crypto retail payments of less than $1,000. The report also shows that peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions are more common in Sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else, comprising 6% of all crypto transaction volume.

According to this report, the African cryptocurrency market grew by over 1200% between 2020 and 2021. Also, four African countries – Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania – rank in the top 20 for global crypto adoption. With such a massive crypto adoption rate, African traders will need a reliable crypto currency broker if they choose to trade crypto.

With a market cap of $12 Billion as of November 2022 and ADA price now at 0.4$ per coin, Cardano is a proof-of-stake (P.O.S.) blockchain network, the first of its kind created on peer-reviewed research and developed through evidence-based techniques. The Cardano blockchain is focused on decentralization and hosts multiple decentralized apps (also known as dapps), smart contracts, and systems. 

This single-minded focus on decentralization makes Cardano perfect for Africa, with a mean age of 19 years and home to over 1.3 billion people. You should note that Africa is not only leading in crypto adoption but also in online retail trading of crypto and other financial markets like forex and binary options. South Africa is the most developed financial market in Africa and since options trading is riskier than crypto trading, traders need to be extra careful when searching for South African binary brokers.

How Cardano Began in Africa

In 2017, Cardano began its big move in Africa, beginning in Ethiopia with two arms of Cardano – EMURGO and IHOK. EMURGO created Cardano’s strategy in Africa, and its goals are twofold – First is to engage local stakeholders in supporting and creating projects that solve real-life issues in the African markets; second – train and educate local crypto developers to develop solutions for African problems. 

In 2018, IOHK signed a Memorandum of Understanding (M.O.U.) with the Ethiopian Government to train and hire junior software developers and use Cardano in its agriculture industry, specifically focusing on Ethiopia’s coffee production.

IOHK also trained an all-female class of Ethiopian and Ugandan students to use Haskell (the language Cardano is built with) within 3 months, which took place in January 2019. IOHK partnered with the Ethiopian government and a leading humanitarian organization for children known as Save The Children to provide secure digital identities to over five million teachers. It also partnered with World Mobile and the Ethiopian Ministry of Education to provide 5 million students with academic credentials.

The Launch of Adaverse

In September 2021, EMURGO Africa and Everest launched Adaverse, a joint venture partnership designed to be Cardano’s accelerator venture acting as its primary vehicle for investment in Africa. The goal is to identify and provide valuable support resources to promising African startups building socially impactful Web3 solutions in Defi, NFTs, gaming metaverse, housing, and much more on Cardano’s eco-friendly decentralized blockchain network.

In collaboration with Adanian Labs (a venture builder based in Kenya), Adaverse has concluded over fifteen (15) crypto-native startups within the African marketplace. In September 2021, Cardano also announced a $100 million investment in Cardano-focused projects by EMURGO.

Cardano Partners with Empowa for Africa Eco-Friendly Housing

Empowa is a decentralized finance innovation on the Cardano blockchain network focusing on sustainable housing in Africa and providing affordable housing loans through a home-to-lease program. Together with Adaverse, the home-to-lease program will be made through the DJED token. The DJED token is the Cardano-Powered Algorithm stablecoin which has a smart contract that ensures its stability.

Empowa has been working in Mozambique, where it reduced the average home cost from US$55,000 to US$10,000, hereby increasing home access from 1% to 6% through its lease-to-own program in the country.

Tackling Land Fraud in Africa

With the Cardano project in Africa, a key goal is eradicating land, and property fraud, with is highly prevalent on the continent. It plans to make it possible for users to store property deeds on the blockchain, where users can access it from anywhere in the world and be absolutely sure their documents are completely secure.

According to John O’Connor, Director of African Operations Input Output (IOHK), “this can be a particular benefit for refugees who may need to prove ownership of their land upon returning home; if these documents are stored on a digital ledger, they cannot be lost or tampered with thanks to the blockchain security. Cardano is provably secure thanks to Ouroboros, a blockchain protocol we designed which features mathematically verifiable security against attackers”.

Adaverse Invests in Momint to Push Cardano Adoption for NFTs in Africa

Momint is an NFT content marketplace and social network for digital assets where users can follow favorite creators and curate collections, learn about Web3, launch community discussions, launch projects, and trade digital assets.

Ahren Posthumous (C.E.O. & Co-founder of Momint) said, “We felt that it made so much sense for Momint to partner with Adaverse. We share common goals in enhancing Web3 experiences in valuable ecosystems, specifically developing markets like Africa and Asia. We are currently integrating Cardano support for NFTs on our marketplace., which, as it stands, is the #1 Web3 marketplace in Africa The Adaverse team’s knowledge of the Cardano blockchain will be invaluable as we continue our development. Cardano’s well-established base in this region and its fast, near-zero fees make it an ideal blockchain for Momint to support on the marketplace”.

Diagon Studios and Adaverse Partner to Advance Cardano Web3 Adoption

Jeremiah Onojah founded Diagon Studios, a Nigerian blockchain GameFi platform focused on creating P2E (Pay-to-Earn) hyper-casual games on the blockchain network to dismantle obstacles in the Web3 gaming ecosystem.

Vincent Li, a founding partner at Adaverse, said: “This startup is all about demystifying the Web3 gaming system in Africa by reaching the grassroots level and providing affordable options targeting low-income earners to ensure more people find something that interest and pays them while building on a reliable infrastructure. Diagon will be one of the pillars of Africa’s digital future, and Adaverse is glad to support this project”.

Adaverse Joins Seed Funding Round for Afriguild

Adaverse, Cardano’s African-focused joint accelerator venture, invested an undisclosed amount in a seed funding phase for AfriGuild, a blockchain gaming community that also runs a D.A.O. (decentralized autonomous organization). AfriGuild, which has 3,000 members on its discord channel and has a presence in nine Nigerian cities, plans to expand into four other African countries by the end of 2022.

Shogo Ishida, Co-CEO EMURGO Africa, Middle East & Africa, said, “Africa is a socially communal, and AfriGuild is building the bridge to financial breakthrough by connecting young Africans to the emerging Web3 world”.

Conclusion of Cardano’s Big Plans in Africa

Cardano and its multiple investment vehicles have big plans for Africa and it is just beginning. It is clear that Cardano is determined to be a major part of the massive crypto adoption in Africa. Therefore, with Africa leading the crypto adoption globally and new startups rising across the continent and receiving funding every day, the potential growth of the African ecosystem backed by Cardano is likely to be positively explosive.

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• Source: Plato Data Intelligence: Platodata.ai